Fear palpable in Bahwalapur village

KANPUR: An eerie calm prevails in Bahwalapur village of Kanpur Dehat. With male members on the run, women of Dalit households live in constant fear of attack by Yadav community in the village. Their travail began on the June 2 2014, when their houses were raged and set on fire. A dozen men, armed with chopper, pistols and ‘lathis’ even tried to rape women-folks, including minor girls.
On Friday, the victims met senior police officials and narrated their ordeal. They also lodged a complaint at the ASP's office demanding stringent action against the culprits. Later, ASP Sarwanand Yadav said that a CO rank officer would probe the incident. “We are in touch with the Dalits who have fled the village. We will provide enough security so that they can return home,” he said, adding that those involved in attacking the dalits would be booked and sent to jail.
Manoj Kumar, one of the victims who had been on the run since the incident, said a group of men in connivance with the local police brought a JCB machine and tractors and demolished their houses allegedly in a bid to grab the land they had inherited from their ancestors. “The group convened a meeting and marched towards the village at night. They torched the houses and within a short span, houses of Manoj Kumar, Bhajan Lal and Hari Krishna Baba were set ablaze. We did not get time to save our belongings. We started running towards jungles to save our lives,” said Meena Devi, daughter of Bhajan Lal.
As per the familiesA, on June 2, Bhajan Lal, Hari Krishna Baba, Manoj Kumar and others were threatened with dire consequences allegedly by Gajendra Yadav, Virendra Yadav, Sunil Yadav, Malkhan Singh Yadav and several others. “The accused arrived and untied our cattles and grabbed the plots. When the trio offered resistance, nearly a dozen members of the community turned violent. Armed with chopper, pistols and `lathis', they forcibly barged into our house and tried to rape the women-folks including minor girls, the same day at around 7 pm,” said one of the victim and added, “When the women tried to resist, the assailants attacked them and stripped them in full public view. Later, the attackers ransacked and set on fire homes of Bhajan Lal, Hari Krishna Baba and Manoj Kumar and left the spot but not before issuing murder threats to them and other families.”
Later, the male members fled and only women with their children, who too had fled, returned on Friday. But they were devastated to find their houses reduced to ashes.