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Is Indian Society Still A Victim Of Atrocities?
It has been observed by the High court in the present case that it is a matter of shame that even after 71 years of independence, atrocities against Scheduled Caste still continue.
Facts of the Case
- The house of one Tara Chand was set on fire due to a dispute between the Jat and Dalit community of the village. As a result of the fire, the father and the daughter were burnt alive. The trial court convicted 15 of 97 men of Jat community and further the accused and police had challenged the decision. The HC convicted 20 more people but dismissed rest of the appeals and said the Balmiki houses were targeted by the Jat community.
- The HC noticed that the Government of Haryana has sought to rehabilitate the families, not in Mirchpur but in another town. The court refused to accept the allegations of the accused and only focused on the fact that the victims have suffered a huge personal loss and further observed that an atmosphere of fear has been created by the members of Jat community and it is important to restore the Balmiki community with security and safety, since the incident has left a huge trauma on the victims.
- According to the Court’s findings, the incidents occurred due to the dispute between the Jat and Balmiki community. Some important incidents of assault between various persons were not looked upon by the trial court due to which the Court has been unable to form the series of events which may have occurred. Further, according to the layout of the village, the conclusion of the trial court as regards to the selective targeting of the houses has been set aside by the Court.
- The court found that such a widespread act must have been committed by a mob and thus the conclusion of the trial court that there has been no criminal conspiracy is unsustainable. It was also pointed out that the members of the Jat community constitute an unlawful assembly and thus the ingredients of Section 149 IPC are satisfied and an intention had been clearly established by all the evidence placed before it.
Several other findings of the trial court had been held to be not valid and wrong by the High Court. The evidence on record was re-examined carefully.
