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Court Acquits All 40 in Rajasthan's 2015 Dalit Killings

Court Acquits All 40 in Rajasthan's 2015 Dalit Killings
Now, from a Rajasthan village, a familiar question: ‘If all acquitted, who killed 5 Dalits?’ · indianexpress.com

In a village called Dangawas in Rajasthan, India, something very sad happened in 2015.

Two groups of people got into a big fight over a piece of farmland.

During that fight, five people died and others were badly hurt.

The police and courts tried to find out who did this terrible thing.

Many years later, a judge said: 'We believe something bad happened, but we cannot tell exactly who did it.'

So the judge let all 40 people who were accused go free.

This makes the families of the people who died very sad — they say it feels like their family members were hurt all over again.

Some leaders say the police did not investigate well enough and think the accused people should not have gone free.

Other people say there was not enough proof to know who did what.

Everyone agrees that a terrible thing happened, but people disagree about who should be blamed.

Key facts

Event
Killing of five Dalits in caste violence
Date of attack
May 14, 2015
Location
Dangawas village, Merta City, Nagaur, Rajasthan
Accused
40 people, all acquitted
Court
Special SC/ST Court
Court's observation
Ghatna siddha hai, karta asiddha (event proven, doer not)
Disputed land
~23-bigha plot allotted to a Dalit in 1961
Investigation
CBI inquiry ordered by the then BJP government

Quotes

Bhanwar Meghwanshi

Author-activist who wrote a book on the Dangawas incident

“The court believes that murders have been proven, the injuries have been proven and that mass violence has also been proven. But not any of the killers.”
indianexpress.com
“So many among us gave statements, some of us even thrice. What happened then?”
indianexpress.com

Special SC/ST Court Judge

Judge in the Special SC/ST Court that acquitted the 40 accused

“Ghatna siddha hai, karta asiddha (The event is proven, the doer is not).”
indianexpress.com

Sources

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