Mumbai Dalit Teen Killed Over Inter-Caste Relationship
Police said the victim, 15-year-old Swapnil Sonawane, was killed because the girl’s family did not approve of him as he belonged to a different caste.
A DALIT boy was allegedly beaten to death on Tuesday night by the family of a 15-year-old girl he was in a relationship with. Police said the victim, 15-year-old Swapnil Sonawane, was killed because the girl’s family did not approve of him as he belonged to a different caste. The girl belongs to the OBC Agri community.
Seven people, including the girl’s relatives and their friends, were arrested in connection with the murder by Nerul police on Wednesday. The girl, who has also been listed as an accused, has been sent to a children’s home in Bhiwandi.
“The boy’s parents claim the girl is responsible for his death. The girl’s parents, her two brothers, the brothers’ friends and a rickshaw driver who ferried the Sonawane family to the girl’s residence have been arrested,” Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale said.
The names of the accused have been withheld to protect the girl’s identity.
According to Swapnil’s father Shahaji, on Monday evening, the boy received a call from the girl’s brother. “He called him to the building gate with his phone and pen-drive. When Swapnil went downstairs, some boys put him in an autorickshaw and beat him up. He was taken to Nerul police station, where the girl’s father was also present,” Shahaji said.
Shahaji alleged Swapnil was warned by the police and the girl’s father not to get in touch with her again. The two studied in the same school.
When Swapnil’s mother and other relatives arrived at the police station Monday night, they were allegedly told by the police to ensure Swapnil ends the relationship. “My wife was told by a lady police officer, ‘Why are you behaving like characters in the film Sairat. Your story will also become like the film’s.
There will be bloodshed in your home’,” Shahaji alleged.
Sairat, a Marathi film, tells the story of an inter-caste couple who are killed in the name of honour by the girl’s family.
Shahaji claimed the girl’s family took Swapnil’s phone and pendrive to destroy any evidence of their relationship.
Nagrale has suspended two police officers on charges of dereliction of duty, including woman sub-inspector Sonali Rajguru, who allegedly made the reference to the film on Monday night, and assistant police inspector Yogesh Mane. Mane allegedly refused to register a complaint when Shahaji approached the police station on Tuesday — hours before Swapnil’s murder — because he feared for his son’s life.
“It was Swapnil’s first day at college on Tuesday. I took him to the police station but one of the police officers did not allow us to meet the senior inspector. My complaint against the girl’s brother was not registered. Had they taken action, my son would have been alive today,” Shahaji alleged.
While they were at the police station, Shahaji received a call from his daughter, who told him there were some men were at their home, banging on the front door.
“I rushed back and saw 15-20 men, including the girl’s brother, waiting for me. I took them to the terrace and he told me that my son and his sister had been in a relationship since they were in Class VII. At first, he threatened me. But later he said we should settle the matter and called me to their home,” Shahaji said, adding that he was reluctant to go but the boys assured him an amicable solution could be reached.
“When I reached their home, the girl’s father started saying casteist things about me and my son. Both my son and I were slapped. The father called the girl and asked my son to apologise to her and call her his sister. My son was humiliated and was asked to fall at her feet. He even did that. But the girl’s father kicked him. He was so scared that he ran out of the house. Four-five people ran behind him and beat him at the chowk (road intersection),” Shahaji alleged, adding that bystanders did not intervene.
Shahaji alleged he and his wife Gauri were also assaulted.
Originally from Ahmednagar, the Sonawane family has been living in Navi Mumbai for over two decades. Shahaji works in a public sector bank and has two children. He said he was unaware of his son’s relationship till Monday evening, when he was told about the incident at the police station.
Police said a friend of the girl’s brother spotted her with Swapnil last week and informed her family.
Police said that apart from the girl’s family, they are probing the role of the two officers at Nerul police station. “When Swapnil’s mother approached the police with some relatives, PSI Rajguru did not pay heed to their requests,” said a police officer.
Rajguru, who allegedly also told the two families to “settle” the matter, has been suspended for “gross misconduct”.
“Swapnil was injured in his private parts and his chest. Prima facie, it appears that he and his parents tried to flee from the house but the family chased them and beat them up. His skull was cracked and he was left bleeding on a street behind Nerul police station. He was taken to D Y Patil hospital but was declared dead on arrival,” said an officer.
The Nerul police have filed a case of murder, kidnapping and criminal intimidation under the IPC. Sections under the Atrocities Act have also been invoked.
Shahaji said he would always rue the moment he decided to take Swapnil to the girl’s home. “I saw my son fall to the ground. I saw him die before my eyes,” he said.
Police said the victim, 15-year-old Swapnil Sonawane, was killed because the girl’s family did not approve of him as he belonged to a different caste.
A Dalit boy was allegedly beaten to death on Tuesday night by the family of a 15-year-old girl he was in a relationship with. Police said the victim, 15-year-old Swapnil Sonawane, was killed because the girl’s family did not approve of him as he belonged to a different caste. The girl belongs to the OBC Agri community.
When Swapnil’s mother and other relatives arrived at the police station Monday night, they were allegedly told by the police to ensure Swapnil ends the relationship. “My wife was told by a lady police officer, ‘Why are you behaving like characters in the film Sairat. Your story will also become like the film’s.
There will be bloodshed in your home’,” Shahaji alleged.
Sairat, a Marathi film, tells the story of an inter-caste couple who are killed in the name of honour by the girl’s family.
Mane allegedly refused to register a complaint when Shahaji approached the police station on Tuesday — hours before Swapnil’s murder — because he feared for his son’s life.
"I took him to the police station but one of the police officers did not allow us to meet the senior inspector. My complaint against the girl’s brother was not registered. Had they taken action, my son would have been alive today."
“When Swapnil’s mother approached the police with some relatives, PSI Rajguru did not pay heed to their requests,” said a police officer. Indian Express
Link to Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/mumbai-honour-killing-dalit-boy-killed-over-inter-caste-relationship-2926851
The National Campaign Against Torture (NCAT) in its “India: Annual Report on Torture 2019” released on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture stated that a total of 1,731 persons died in custody during 2019 i.e. deaths of about five persons daily. These included 1,606 deaths in judicial custody and 125 deaths in police custody.
Torture is perpetrated to extract confession or bribes and torture methods used in 2019 included hammering iron nails in the body (Bihar), applying roller on legs and burning (Jammu & Kashmir), ‘falanga’ wherein the soles of the feet are beaten (Kerala), stretching legs apart in opposite side (Kerala), hitting in private parts (Haryana), electric shock (Punjab and Uttar Pradesh), pouring petrol in private parts (Uttar Pradesh), applying chilly power in private parts (Kerala) beating while being hand-cuffed (Kerala), pricking needle into body (3-Year-old minor in Tamil Nadu), branding with hot iron rod (3-Year-old minor in Tamil Nadu), beating after stripping (Haryana and Assam), urinating in mouth (Uttar Pradesh), inserting hard blunt object into anus (Bihar), beating after hanging upside down with hands and legs tied (Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh), forcing to perform oral sex (Gujarat), pressing finger nails with pliers (Assam), beating with iron rods after victim is suspended between two tables with both hands and legs tied (Madhya Pradesh), forced to do Murga pose or stress position (Haryana), and kicking in belly of pregnant woman (Assam).
Indian police officers in the town of Nagina chased a group of Muslim teenagers into an empty house. They grabbed them and took them to a makeshift jail. And then, the boys and community leaders said, the officers tortured them.
Four of the boys, who ranged in age from 13 to 17, said that police officers used wooden canes to beat them and threatened to kill them.
Indian Police officers over the course of 30 hours terrorized them.
According to two of the boys, the officers laughed during beatings, saying, “You will die in this prison.”
More accounts are emerging of abuse meted out by police officers.
Almost all the violence has been directed toward Muslim residents. More people — at least 19 — have been killed!
Witnesses said that police officers opened fire on demonstrators with live ammunition, broke into houses and stole money, and threatened to rape women.
Police officers were encouraged by their superiors to kill protesters.
The Indian police have become a lynch mob! Inidan police officers having been given the green light by senior officials to use harsh measures against Muslims.
A 20-year-old Dalit man was allegedly burnt alive over his relationship with a woman from another caste, the killing causing his mother to die of shock.
The victim was beaten up, kept hostage in a house and set ablaze.
Locals rushed to the spot on hearing his cries and took him to a local hospital. He was referred to a Lucknow hospital but succumbed to injuries on the way.
India : Hyderabad : Andhra Pradesh Telangana2018-09-20
A father attacked his 20-year-old daughter and her newlywed husband in the heart of the city on Wednesday, chopping off her left forearm and slashing her jaw. The incident comes days after a Dalit youth was mercilessly murdered in front his pregnant wife in Nalgonda district.
Police said the father was upset over the inter-caste marriage — the woman an OBC (Other Backward Class), her husband, B Sandeep (22), a Dalit. Sandeep and Madhavi Chary, in a relationship for five years, secretly got married on September 12, despite stiff opposition from her father.
Madhavi was left with a 12-inch gash on her neck and jawline and her left forearm barely hung by the skin. She was in a 10-hour surgery at the time of going to print. Sandeep, in another hospital, received 10 stitches to close the deep wound at the angle of his mouth; the attending doctors said he was in deep shock.
