2 weeks ago
Court Acquits All 40 in Rajasthan's 2015 Dalit Killings
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.
A Special SC/ST Court acquitted all 40 accused in the May 14, 2015 killing of five Dalits in Dangawas village, Rajasthan.
The court observed 'Ghatna siddha hai, karta asiddha' — the event is proven but the doer is not.
The violence erupted from a dispute over a 23-bigha plot allotted to a Dalit in 1961 and mortgaged to a Jat family in 1964.
Survivor Khema Ram said about 250-300 men on motorcycles and tractors attacked 16 people, including six women.
Then BJP chief minister Vasundhara Raje's government had ordered a CBI inquiry; Dalit families say the verdict means their kin have been 'killed once again.'
- Who
- A Special SC/ST Court acquitted all 40 accused, mostly from the Jat side; the victims were five Dalits, including relatives of survivor Khema Ram and Govind Ram.
- What
- All 40 accused were acquitted in the May 14, 2015 killing of five Dalits in Dangawas; the court said the event is proven but the doer is not.
- Where
- Dangawas village, near Merta City in Nagaur district, Rajasthan, India.
- When
- The attack happened on May 14, 2015; the acquittal verdict came in the case years later, with political reactions reported around August 11.
- Why
- The violence grew out of a decades-long dispute over a 23-bigha plot allotted to a Dalit in 1961 and mortgaged to a Jat family in 1964; the court found the deaths proven but the perpetrators not.
Dalit families and prosecution supporters
Accused's legal team and Jat side
Who was responsible
Dalit families and prosecution supporters
Survivors say 250-300 men on motorcycles and tractors attacked 16 Dalits, including six women, and ran a tractor over them, killing five.
Accused's legal team and Jat side
The defense says the clash was a family dispute that became a 'free for all' with no clarity on who assaulted whom, and that many named accused were not even in Dangawas that day.
Reliability of evidence
Dalit families and prosecution supporters
Minor contradictions in witness statements should not undo the prosecution case given rural conditions, low education, trauma, old age of witnesses and the passage of time.
Accused's legal team and Jat side
Witness statements to police, CBI and court contradict each other, and the earliest X-ray was taken five days after the incident, so the prosecution story is suspect.
Use of tractors
Dalit families and prosecution supporters
Survivors say the attackers ran a tractor over them, leaving Khema Ram bedridden for two-and-a-half years with metal rods in his legs and arm.
Accused's legal team and Jat side
The defense denies tractors were used, arguing that running someone over would crush bones, whereas the injuries showed broken bones.
Political response
Dalit families and prosecution supporters
Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot slammed 'serious flaws in the investigation and prosecution,' and Dalit families say only one of their 18 demands was met.
Accused's legal team and Jat side
Local BJP MLA Laxman Ram says courts are open to the victims if they are unsatisfied and that shortcomings will be known once the full court order is available.
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










