Dalit Man From MP Killed for Marrying Upper Caste Woman 7 Years Ago

Bhopal: Inspired by Marathi movie Sairat, two upper caste men allegedly slit the throat of the brother-in-law of one of them, who belonged to the dalit community and married his sister against the family’s wishes seven years ago, the Madhya Pradesh police said.

The incident occurred on April 3, 2019 in Punjab’s Ludhiana district.

Police said the victim -- Rajkumar Ahirwar (30) -- was a resident of MP's Chhatarpur district and worked as mason in Ludhiana district of Punjab.

Rajkumar married Deepa Singh, who belongs to the thakur community, from Kakrada village in Chhatarpur seven years ago against the wishes of her family.

The news of their marriage had irked the upper caste community and a war-like situation had emerged between them and dalits of the area in 2013. Fearing retaliation from the community, the couple fled to Delhi and later settled down in Ludhiana, where the man began to work as a mason. The couple has two sons.

In an effort to “restore the glory” of his family, the accused -- Ankit alias Ajay Pal Singh (24) and his friend Bhupendra Singh (23) -- managed to trace the couple earlier this year and allegedly plotted the murder of Rajkumar Ahirwar, just like in the Marathi film, Sairat.

Sairat, released in 2016, is the story of two college friends, Archi and Parshya, who fall in love. As they belong to different castes, their relationship faces opposition from the upper caste girl’s family. Much after they leave the city and settle down, they are traced down and the hero, a dalit, is slain by the girl’s kin.

Just like in the movie, Ankit, who is a relative of Deepa, first dropped by their home on two occasions in a bid to re-establish relations with the couple.

In April 2, Ankit, accompanied by Bhupendra reached Ludhiana and stayed for a couple of days at his sister’s house. The same evening, they purchased a knife from Ludhiana’s Ghantaghar market.

The following day, when Rajkumar returned from the work in the evening, they asked the him to drop them to the railway station on his motorcycle. Unaware about their plot to kill him, Rajkumar agreed. But, as they reached a canal in Sahnewal town, Ankit slit his throat from behind. Rajkumar fell to the ground, after which the two punched him and stabbed him multiple times.

Meanwhile, Ankit called Deepa and said he had killed her husband to “restore the honour” of their family and thakur community as a whole. He allegedly threatened to kill Deepa and her children

In a bid to get justice, Deepa appealed to DIG Chhatarpur Anil Maheshwari and SP Tilak Singh and lodged an FIR against her kin -- Ankit and Bhupendra.

Acting on the complaint, Maatguva police arrested both the accused on Tuesday by raiding thier village Bardaha Tiraha and handed them over to the Punjab police. During police interrogation, both admitted to the crime.    

“Ankit killed Rajkumar on April 3, 2019 in Ludhiana. A case has been registered with the Sahnewal police under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC. Besides, Ankit was also threatening to kill Deepa and her children. She reported the matter to our senior police officer, following which, we took them into custody and handed them to the Punjab police, where the incident occurred,” said, Maatguva police station in-charge Umesh Yadav.