Mother and daughter burnt alive in Kanpur bulldozer action

Kanpur, Feb 15: A day after a woman and her daughter were burnt alive during an anti-encroachment drive in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur Dehat district, police on Tuesday booked 42 people, including a sub-divisional magistrate, four revenue officials, and over a dozen police officers on murder and other charges, officials said.

 

 

 

Superintendent of police (Kanpur Dehat) BBTGS Murthy said police lodged an FIR on charges of murder, and attempt to murder against SDM (Maitha) Gyaneshwar Prasad, SHO Dinesh Gautam, revenue official Ashok Dixit, lekhpal (revenue officer) Ashok Singh, JCB driver Vishal, and others, including police officers and revenue department officials.

 

 

 

“Lekhpal Ashok Singh and JCB driver Deepak have been arrested so far,” Murthy said. SDM Gyaneshwar Prasad has been placed under suspension. Meanwhile, heavy police deployment has been made in and around the Madauli village in Maitha tehsil as tension prevailed after the deaths. Local residents, including family members of the deceased, did not allow the police to take the charred bodies for a post-mortem examination. However, after deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak spoke to the family over the phone, they agreed to the autopsy on Tuesday afternoon, said a senior police officer. The relatives of the deceased sought ex-gratia of ₹5 crore and a government job for at least two members of the bereaved family. “The police are investigating the case and stringent action will be taken on the basis of findings,” said Alok Singh, ADGP (Kanpur zone). On Monday, the 44-year-old woman and her 21-year-old daughter allegedly set themselves afire in a hut in the presence of police, district administration, and revenue officials, who had gone to Madauli village in the Rura area to remove encroachments from a “gram samaj” land, a police officer said. The 44-year-old woman’s husband, who suffered burn injuries in a bid to save his wife and daughter, claimed that the gram samaj land was with his family for nearly 100 years. On a complaint of a villager Ashok Dixit, SDM Gyaneshwar Prasad demolished their pucca structure in January this year, said the woman’s husband. The family protested at the DM’s office. “We were insulted by the DM, ADM, and SDM (Maitha). They did not listen to us and we were thrown out of the campus,” he said. “(Ashok) Dixit met the DM on Monday with his complaint and she ordered the demolition,” he alleged. “SDM Gyaneshwar reached the village in an hour with a JCB and heavy police contingent. My wife was just trying to stall the demolition but they killed her. No one helped them as they were burning.”

 

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Their son, who registered a complaint on the basis of which the FIR was registered, alleged the “SDM and lekhpal set the house on fire”. “Had my father and I not rushed, we too would have died. The SDM was screaming – ‘no one should be left alive’,” he alleged. District magistrate Neha Jain told reporters that the team had reached the village to clear encroachment. The women attempted to stop them and attacked team members. “Thereafter, they resorted to self-immolation in the room. SHO (Rura) suffered burn injuries trying to save them. A panel has been formed to inquire into the incident,” she said.