Doctor allegedly gang raped and left half dead in Delhi

New Delhi (India), SVM News, September 25, 2007: A 25-year-old doctor working with Employee State Insurance Hospital at Basai Darapur in West Delhi has been allegedly gang raped and left half dead on September 20.

"The authorities of the hospital reported that general physician and resident doctor was found unconscious and brutally injured as a result of gang rape at the Raja Garden hostel of the state-run ESI hospital on Thursday night. She was admitted to the emergency ward in the same hospital," police said on Tuesday.

"Doctors informed that there were strangulation marks on her neck and injuries on her private parts. She was hurt badly and for better treatment she was shifted to a private hospital," said a senior police official investigating the matter.

Therefore, she is presently admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of Balaji Healthcare Hospital in Paschim Vihar. The doctors at the Balaji hospital said that she was still critical and unfit to make any police statement.

"We have registered a case under section 307 for attempting to rape and murder against unknown assailants. But it seems that the victim was gang raped. We will convert into a rape case after taking her statement," the official told.

She was hailing from punjab, and was living with her sister at the hostel.

Police officer of Moti Nagar police station said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service that they have registered a case under section 307 for attempting to rape and murder against unknown assailants.

The doctor was reportedly found on the floor with needle marks on her arms. Initial reports claim that there was an attempt to murder her after the alleged rape. Police said that she sustained injuries while resisting.

"Investigations suggest that the accused were familiar to the victim. We have identified them and would make arrests only after the victim's statement. We hope to record her plea in next two days," police said. "It seems that the victim was gang raped. We will convert into a rape case," official added.

Source: http://salemvoice.org/svmnews251.html

Parents driven suicide with son for his cancers

Kochi (Kerala), SVM News, September 25, 2007: Couple was found dead along with their son on September 25, Tuesday morning at Lakeshore hospital in Cochin in Kerala, India for unable to cope with the trauma of son's cancers.

Das (50) and Latha (42) of Kondoli House at Thrithalur in Thrissur District and their son Jeslin (14) were in the hospital since last month for the treatment of Jeslin who had undergone brain surgery because of a tumour. Just few days back he was diognosed with leukaemia too.

Das, father of Jeslin was an employee of a private bus. Jeslin is the only son and the youngest among three other girls. When the boy was detected brain tumor, Das made all of his efforts to treat his son by lending money from several people. But he had a hope that after his son's recovery he can go and work and get deliverance from debts. But he became weary by hearing Jeslin diognosed with leukaemia.

Dr. V.P. Gangadharan, who treated Jeslin said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service that the father of the boy appeared to be totally devastated since he was detected with the tumour in the brain.

"It was only last week that the boy came under my treatment. A few days back, his blood count dropped suddenly and it was found he was also a leukaemia patient," Dr. Gangadharan said.

Doctor had spoken to the distraught couple on Monday evening. But at the same night couple and child driven suicide. Indications show that they had taken poison.

Jeslin was studying in standard IX at Karamukku S.N.G.S.School.

Jiji, Siji and Liji are the sisters of Jeslin. They are married with Pradeep, Sumesh and Bineesh.

Health insurance is slowly coming up in India, but not common. In fact, the poor people have no knowledge about it. Or to say they cannot afford the premium of certain insurance companies. Therefore poor people suffering too much debts and worries because of the different types of treatments.

Source: http://salemvoice.org/svmnews250.html

More lynching and assaulting as social turmoil in India

Paul Ciniraj

Patna (Bihar, India), SVM News, Sept 23, 2007: Two more suspected thieves lynched at Saketpuri, a lower middle class neighbourhood under the jurisdiction of Sultanganj police station of Patna in Bihar state on September 21.

The alleged thieves were attacked by an angry crowd after a resident raised an alarm on Friday night.

"One of the victims jumped into a pond to escape, but the mob encircled, stoned, pulled him out and he was beaten to death," Anwar Hussain, City Police Superintendent told to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.

Another man's body was recovered on Saturday morning.

There are many incidents of lynching, dragging and assaulting in Bihar state since last few days.

It was on Sept 12, ten people belonging to a poverty-stricken community in Bihar itself, were lynched in Vaishali district. A high-level probe has found those men were not thieves as suspected earlier.

Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar imposed a fine two days after the incident against the residents of a village that lynched 10 alleged thieves and taking the law into their own hands.

On August 29, an unemployed youth named Salim Aurangzeb was tied to the motorcycle of a police officer and was dragged along the road in Bhagalpur in full view of the cheering crowds for alleged chain snatching.

On Sept 5, two children were beaten, paraded on the streets and had their heads tonsured by villagers for allegedly stealing a few packs of detergent in Vaishali.

On September 9, three boys aged between 17 and 18, who had robbed a motorcycle at gunpoint near Shriddala, escaped lynching when police reached thescene on time. However, the right eye of one of the boys was gouged.

A 60-year-old dalit man, a landless laborer named Bhagawat Ravidoss was beaten to death and his relative Hari Ravidoss seriously injured on September 18 by landowners of Bhadrar village in Banka District.

Same day, an young man, Rakesh Kumar, 26, lynched by a mob in Patahi village in Sitamarhi district for allegedly stealing a statue from a temple. He was beaten to death with sticks and rods after a witchcraft practitioner identified him as the one who had stolen the statue.

In another incident in Bhagalpur district, two minor girls were assaulted by their neighbours in Kulkuliya village under the Ghogha police station. The police failed to register a case despite visiting the affected family.

In Jharkhand state also a mob of villagers from Daridag and Kodi localities in Ramgarh district in Jharkhand attacked a gang suspected to be involved in a number of thefts and beheaded three of them on September 20 night. Those killed have been identified as Faiaz and Umar of Soso village under Gola police station, and Maniruddih of Piri village under Barkakana OP.

There are many other incidents of social and religious turmoil throughout India during the last month.

On August 26, a tribal man and three women were brutally beheaded by a group of villagers who suspected them that they were practicing sorcery in Balasore district of Orissa.

On the same day, a violent attack on a house church in Kolar district of Karnataka state and was beaten pastor Emmanuel Venkatesh and M.S. Thimmakka and stabbed a church member Venkattarajappa on his hand and hips as christian persecution.

The next day, a 24-year-old man named Ramesh Patel was chained to a tractor, dragged and murdered in Palanpur district of Gujarat. A whole village watched yet no one uttered a word.

On August 28, a mob gathered after a speeding truck in Agra, the home town of the Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh, crushed four teenagers and burned more than 54 vehicles and many shops nearby in which one person was killed and many were hospitalized. The same day, retaliatory killings were prevented in Gohana village in Haryana state due to the prompt intervention of the Dalit elders and police force after one of their youths was found murdered.

On August 29, Raibhan Tembhurne, a 55-year-old school teacher allegedly killed his 19-year-old college studentdaughter Ratna as a human sacrifice along with his two wives Reema and Sharda by the instruction of a black magic petitioner because he had fathered a son at village Kudegaon, which is about 50 miles from Bhandara in Maharashtra state. Same day, Mathews Pulimoottil Cor-episcopa, an 81-year-old village bishop of the Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church, was severely beaten and hospitalized in Cochin in Kerala.

On August 30, a Dalit woman was allegedly raped by two persons in Shajapur in Madhya Pradesh.

The following day, four alleged fuel thieves were tortured for hours and made to crawl by villagers and truckers near Bhubaneswar in Orissa. Also that day, as also previously reported by the news service, Mariyam, an elderly 83-year-old woman, was murdered in Trissur district of Kerala. A 45-year-old Dalit man, Brahmadas, was allegedly burned to death by his employers in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh on the same day.

On Sept 1, two elderly women were allegedly murdered by their sons in Keonjhar district in Orissa for practicing sorcery. The arrested youths told police they killed their mothers, who were in their 60s, because a witch doctor told them that their mothers were trying to kill them in order to achieve success in witchcraft after killing their fathers, who had died some time ago.

The next day, a girl and a boy were beheaded at Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh after they were found in a compromising position.

On Sept 3, Itwari, a ten-year-old boy was tied to a horse by a rope and dragged on the road by a Gujar crowd in Jalandhar District of Punjab for trying to stop their horses from grazing his fields. On that same day, T Solomon was tied to a tree near Kollam in Kerala and mercilessly beaten for allegedly stealing a cow. Police later found him mentally unsound. Also on that day, aAn elderly Dalit woman named Hirawati, 60, was beaten to death by four upper caste women over a petty dispute in the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

The next day, September 4, women of Vachunuru village in Andhra Pradesh ransacked belt-shops and seized ID liquor and IML when the authorities failed to prevent liquor 'menace' despite their requests. That same day, angry crowds lynched Shiv Mohan and tried to set his house on fire for allegedly raping and murdering a three-year-old girl in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. Also on September 4, Boraj Panchayat near Ajmer in Rajastan conducted a compulsory body search of all its citizens to detect the alleged rapist among them. The villagers also beat a man to death near Rourkela in Orissa for allegedly molesting a woman.

On September 5, Krishna Khoya, suspected of murdering an elderly couple with witchcraft was executed by a tribal council in Jharkhand State.

Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand also witnessed a gruesome incident of mob violence last month in Tupudana in which three people were done to death.

On Sept 16, Hindu extremists burned down a prayer hall and beat Pastor Virendra Singh and his wife Bhavna in Barauli village near the Madiaon police station in Uttar Pradesh during the worship service as an act of Christian persecution. A mob of 30 extremists, led by Narendra Singh and Giri Baba, reached the prayer hall and picked a fight with the pastor. They threatened the couple and then set the thatched building on fire. The whole structure was reduced to rubble in a matter of a few minutes.

Source: http://salemvoice.org/svmnews249.html

Life term for Graham Staine's murderer Dara Singh for Priest murder

Paul Ciniraj,

Salem Voice Ministries

Baripada (Orissa, India), SVM News, September 22, 2007: Dara Singh alias Ravinder Kumar Pal and three others were sentenced to life imprisonment by the District Judge Sachidananda Sahu of Mayurbhanj District and Sessions court in Northern Baripada town in Orissa for the murder of a 35-year-old Catholic priest Arul Doss on Saturday, September 22.

Dara Singh is already undergoing a life sentence in Baripada Circle Jail for burning to death of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons Philip and Timothy, while they were sleeping inside their vehicle outside a church at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district on January 22, 1999, said he would challenge the verdict in the Orissa High Court.

A trial court in 2003, sentenced Dara Singh to death for his role in the killing, but a higher court later saved him from the gallows by commuting his sentence to life imprisonment.

Catholic priest Father Arul Doss was killed on September 1, 1999 in Jamabani village in Orissa's Mayurbhanj district. He was attacked and chased while attending a function and struck down by arrows.

Public Prosecutor Prasanna Kumar Pani said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service that the court while convicting the four, acquitted 17 other accused in the case relating to the murder of catholic priest due to lack of evidence.

The court found Dara Singh, allegedly a member of the radical Hindu group Bajrang Dal and three others - Jadunath Mahanto, Chema Ho and Rajkishore Majanto - guilty after examining 23 witnesses during the trial for which had begun on September 8, 2004.

They were also sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment for burning a church, five years for trespass and three years for armed attack. The sentences would run concurrently.

Source (with pictures): http://salemvoice.org/svmnews248.html

Christian aid worker beaten up by narcotic sellers in Kerala

Changanassery (Kerala, India), SVM News, September 22, 2007: A group of narcotoc sellers attacked Christian aid worker, who is also a prayer warrior in Changanassery in Kottayam district of Kerala, India on September 16.

Fatimapuram Parayil Thomas, 30, was severely beaten by the selling agents of narcotic distributors and admitted at Changanassery Taluk hospital with serious injuries.

The incident was happened in front of the KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation) bus stand on Sunday night.

Thomas is a Christian aid worker and an active member of the Salem Voice Ministries prayer fellowship. He earns for his family as an auto-riksha (three wheeler) driver.

The narcotic sellers are centralised in Changanassery town and secretly selling opium, brown sugar and other drugs to the youth.

Thomas keeps his auto-riksha in front of KSRTC bus stand at Changanassery town to pick up travellers. He was alert against the narcotic sellers who used to lead astray and destroy the life of the youth. Recently he helped the police to catch somebody with narcotics. That was provoked them to attack him.

Paul Ciniraj, president of the Christian Ministers of the Churches of India (CMCI) and the director of the Salem Voice Ministries condemned the attact toward the Christian aid worker and prayer warrior Thomas.

Changanassery police registered a case and investigating on it.

Source: http://salemvoice.org/svmnews247.html

Dalit man beaten to death; social turmoil raging throughout India

(Paul Ciniraj,

Salem Voice Ministries)

Banka (Bihar, India), SVM News, Sep 20, 2007: A 60-year-old dalit man beaten to death and another seriously injured on September 18 by landowners of Bhadrar village in Banka District of Bihar, India.

Bhagwat Ravidoss, 60, a landless labourer, murdered after he was lynched by landowners and their henchmen on Tuesday night over a land-related dispute.

Hari Ravidoss, one of the relatives of Bhagwat Ravidoss was also severely beaten and seriously injured. He was admitted to the Taluk hospital in a critical condition.

Police said poverty-stricken and landless Dalits have been living on land owned by the government for decades.

"Landowners and their henchmen attacked the Dalits and destroyed their thatched huts Tuesday night in a bid to capture the land. Bhagwat and Ravi were beaten up when they tried to put up a protest," a police spokeman said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.

A case has been lodged against 49 people in this connection but no one has been arrested yet.

SOCIAL TURMOIL RAGING THROUGHOUT INDIA

On August 26, a tribal man and three women were brutally beheaded by a group of villagers who suspected them that they were practising sorcery in Balasore district of Orissa.

On August 27, a 24-year-old man named Ramesh Patel was chained to a tractor, dragged and murdered in Palanpur district of Gujarat. A whole village watched yet no one uttered a word.

On August 28, a mob gathered after a speeding truck in Agra, the home town of Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh crushed four teenagers and burnt over 54 vehicles and many shops nearby in which one killed and many were hospitalized. Same day, retaliatory killings were prevented in Gohana village in Haryana due to the prompt intervention of the Dalit elders and police force after one of their youths was found murdered.

On August 29, an unemployed youth named Salim Aurangzeb was tied to the motorcycle of a police officer and was dragged along the road in Bhagalpur in Bihar in full view of the cheering crowds for alleged chain snatching. Same day Raibhan Tembhurne, a school teacher of 55-years-old allegedly killed his 19-year-old college going daughter Ratna as a human sacrifice alongwith his two wives Reema and Sharda by the instruction of a black magic petitioner for getting a son. Mathews Pulimoottil Cor-episcopa, an 81-year-old village bishop of Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church was severely beaten and hospitalised in Cochin in Kerala was also on the same day.

On August 30, a Dalit woman was allegedly raped by two persons in Shajapur in Madhya Pradesh.

On August 31, four alleged fuel thieves were tortured for hours and made to crawl by villagers and truckers near Bhubaneswar in Orissa. Same day, Mariyam, an elderly woman of 83-years-old brutally murdered in Trissur district of Kerala. A 45-year-old Dalit man, Brahmadas, was allegedly burnt to death by his employers in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh was also on the same day.

On Sept 1, two elderly women were allegedly murdered by their sons in Keonjhar district in Orissa for practicing sorcery. The arrested youths told police they killed their mothers, in their 60s, because a witch doctor told them that their mothers were trying to kill them in order to achieve success in witchcraft after killing their fathers, who had died some time ago.

On Sept 2, a girl and a boy were beheaded at Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh after they were found in a compromising position.

On Sept 3, Itwari, a ten-year-old boy was tied to a horse by a rope and dragged on the road by a Gujar crowd in Jalandhar District of Punjab for trying to stop their horses from grazing his fields. Same day, T Solomon was tied to a tree near Kollam in Kerala mercilessly beaten for allegedly stealing a cow. Police later found him mentally unsound. An elderly Dalit woman named Hirawati, 60, beaten to death by four upper caste women over a petty dispute in the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh also on the same day.

On Sept 4, women of Vachunuru village in Andhra Pradesh ransacked belt-shops and seized ID liquor and IML when the authorities failed to prevent liquor 'menace' despite their requests. Same day, angry crowds lynched Shiv Mohan and tried to set his house on fire for allegedly raping and murdering a three-year-old girl in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. Same day, Boraj panchayat near Ajmer conducted a compulsory body search of all its to detect the rapist among them. The villagers beat a man to death near Rourkela in Orissa for allegedly molesting a woman also on the same day.

On Sept 5, two children were beaten, paraded on the streets and heads tonsured by villagers for alleged stealing a few packs of detergent in Vaishali in Bihar. Krishna Khoya, suspected of murdering an elderly couple with witchcraft executed by a tribal council in Jharkhand State also on the same day.

On Sept 9, three boys aged between 17-18, who had robbed a motor cycle at gun point near Shriddala in Bihar, escaped lynching when police reached there in time. But the right eye of one of them was gouged.

On Sept 10, two minor boys were beaten, paraded on the streets and their heads tonsured by villagers for alleged stealing detergent powder from a shop in Nawada district in Bihar.

On Sept 12, ten people belonging to the Nat community, were lynched in Vaishali district in Bihar. A high-level probe has found the 10 men were not thieves as suspected earlier.

On Sept 16, Hindu extremists burned down prayer hall and beaten Pastor Virendra Singh and his wife Bhavna in Barauli village under Madiaon police station in Uttar Pradesh during the worship service as a christian persecution. A mob of 30 extremists, led by Narendra Singh and Giri Baba, reached the prayer hall and picked up a fight with the pastor. They threatened the couple and then set the thatched it on fire. The whole structure was reduced to rubble in a matter of a few minutes.

Source: http://salemvoice.org/svmnews246.html

Elderly Cor-episcopa (Village Bishop) severely beaten in Kerala

Kochi (Kerala, India), SVM News, September 8, 2007: An 81-year-old village bishop of Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church was severely beaten and hospitalised on August 29 at Kanjiramattam in Ernakulam district of Kerala state, India.

Mathews Pulimoottil Cor-episcopa, 81, the village bishop and the vicar of the Kajniramattom St. Ignatius Orthodox Syrian Christian Church was severely beaten on Wednesday by an anti-social and a drunkard called Baby of Kaniyamparmbil. Suspecting there was an ati-social gang behind him.

The elderly bishop was attacked on the public road near his house while going back home from the church after the funeral of a member of the parish.

The accused slapped on his face several times and he was fallen down on the road. At that time he threshed his chest and hands and kicked him again.

The accused has been escaped when the people reached to the sopt.

Bishop severely injured and admitted at the Kolenchery Medical College. He still at the hospital and continue treatment.

"Mathews Cor-episcopa yet to be recovered. There are still some internal injuries in his body. So he suffer body aches. He finds very difficult to pick up even a pen, because one of his hands also threshed," Doctor Vinod said the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.

After hearing this news, bishop's wife Kunjamma Mathew, 77, became seriously ill and admitted at Chottanikkara Tata hospital.

Sudheesh Kumar, the Deputy Superintendant of Police in Muvattupuzha, Kuriakose, Circle Inspector of Piravam and Yunus Kunju, Sub Inspector of Mulanthuruthy are investigating the case. They have arrested the accused, but released on bail due to the political pressure.

Thankachan, Baby, Prince and Sojan are the sons of Bishop Mathews Cor-episcopa.

St. Ignatius Orthodox Syrian Church has more than 1500 members in the parish. Bishop Mathews Cor-episcopa is its vicar. He is also the vicar of Elamkulam Mar Gregorios Orthodox Church in Kochi, where more than 2000 members as the parishoners.

Since last 55 years of priesthood, Mathews Cor-episcopa served about 40 parishes as vicar in Kochy, Kottayam, Niranam, Malabar and Knanaya Dioceses of the Indian Orthodox Church. All the church congregations were having more than 1500 members each as parishoners.

His Holiness Baselios Marhoma Didymos I, the Catholicos of the East and the Supreme Head of the Indian Orthodox Church alongwith Paulose Mar Militheos, the Catholicos Designate and other bishops visited him at the hospital. He condemned the incident.

"Persecution towards Christians and minorities are being continued by the support of government and police authorities. Mathews Cor-episcopa is one of its last victims," Catholicose of the East said.

Paul Ciniraj, president of the Christian Ministers of the Churches of India (CMCI) and the director of Salem Voice Ministries condemned the attack towards village bishop. He visited him in the hospital.

Contact Mathews Pulimoottil Cor-episcopa to his Mobile: 0091-949-551-4745; 0091-924-979-0804.

news (with pictures): http://salemvoice.org/svmnews245.html

Christians attacked by Hindu militans; 2 RSS leaders held

Thiruvanandapuram (Kerala), SVM News, September 7, 2007: A group of Hindu militants attacked Christians and co-labourers on September 4 near Parasuram temple at Tiruvallam in Thiruvanandapuram city, the capital of Kerala state in India.

Jose, George, Santhosh, Bijoy, Jaykrish and Hari were the victims were attacked on Tuesday night by a mob of 15 militants with long swods and other fatal weapons. The victims were seriously injured. They were attacked while going back to the residents after their duty at Archana Bar.

A team of police under E.N. Suresh, Circle Inspector of Police in Nemom Circle, G. Binu, Sub-Inspector of Tiruvallam, T. Satheesh Kumar Crime Branch Sub-Inspector were investigating the case.

Two RSS leaders (Rashtriya Swyam Sevak Sangh, the strong and influential militant group of Hindus) were arrested on September 6.

Sreekumar, 36, son of Damodaran of Thankamany Nivas Poonthura and Lalu, 24, son of Rajendran of Kunnumpala thoppu Vadakke Veedu were the RSS leaders arrested by the police. Sreekumar is Shareerik Shikshanthak Pramukh (leader of the physical training to the militants) and Lalu is the Mukhya Sikshak (branch leader of the militant group) at Edayar branch. They were accused of several cases.

Both were presented before the court and the court remanded them for fourteen days. Police charged them against murdering attempt.

Circle Inspector Suresh told the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service that the investigations are more energetic to find out other accusers. They will be held soon.

Paul Ciniraj, president of the Christian Ministers of the Churches of India (CMCI) and the director of the Salem Voice Ministries condemned the attack towards christians and minorities. Also he appreciated the immediate action of the police to arrest the accusers, who are the militant leaders.

S. Stanley, 58, a retired government employee martyred for Jesus Christ on February 10 was also under Nemom police circle. Stanley was brutally murdered at his house in front of his wife. The murderers entered the house and stabbed him several times at his back, neck and stomach. Police arrested the accusers. (Read news story of Stanley's murder: http://salemvoice.org/news142.html).

Source: http://salemvoice.org/svmnews244.html

Boy dragged behind horse; youth dragged to death by tractor

Jalandhar (Punjab, India), SVM News, September 5, 2007: A 10-year-old boy was dragged on a road after being tied behind a horse at village Raowali in Jalandhar District of Punjab state in India.

Etwari Lal was the boy who chased the animal away, following which the owners of the horse tied the boy to the animalThe incident took place on September 3, when the boy, along with his parents, was guarding the field of his landlord and a horse belonging to a member of the influential local Gujjar community.

The ordeal ended only when Etwari cried in pain with severe injuries and his parents raised an alarm.

Etawari Lal said the "horse was grazing and I went to stop it. Some boys from the Gujjar community came and beat me up. They tied me to the horse and dragged me more than a mile."

The injured boy was taken to a hospital and a complaint was lodged with the police.

On Monday, parents of Etwari had alleged that the boy was tied and dragged by horse owed by the members of Gujjar community.

The horse owner told that he got injured accidentally when his leg got entangled with the rope he was holding.

"When the investigation was progressed, parents of the boy approached me for withdrawal of their complaint, most probably after striking a compromise," SHO Sakkatar Singh said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.

The parents of the boy is now telling the same statement which the horse owner has said. They do not want anybody to blame for it.

Sarabjit Singh, the Senior Superintendent of Police of Jalandhar said, "We took action the very day the incident was reported. The SHO himself is looking into the case and we have not been informed of any threats that the family is facing."

In a similar incident, a petty thief named Aurangzeb alias Salim was mercilessly beaten by a crowd, tied to a policeman's motorcycle and dragged after being accused of stealing a gold chain in Nathnagar town of Bhagalpur district in Bihar State on August 26 (news story: http://salemvoice.org/svmnews234.html).

In another incident, a 24-year-old man named Ramesh Patel was chained to a tractor, dragged and murdered in Palanpur district of Gujarat state on August 27. A whole village watched yet no one uttered a word.

Ramesh had eloped with a neighbourhood girl he was in love with, but the girl's family tracked them down.

"A group of around 12 people from the family of that girl whom my son used to love had forcibly entered at my home breaking two doors with sharp weapons and took him by chaining him with a tractor, dragged and killed," Sarabhai Patel, Victim's father said to the SVM news.

Police arrested four persons on Wednesday, August 29 in connection with Ramesh's death.

Orginal News (with pictures):

http://salemvoice.org/svmnews243.html

Dalit woman panchayat president face serious caste crisis

(Paul Ciniraj)

Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu, India) SVM News, September 4, 2007: Chandralekha Sankaran, a Dalit woman is the present president of Athichanallur panchayat, near Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. Previously this position was held by Shanker Ganesh, a Thevar, an upper caste man.

After the last election, Shankar Ganesh was elected only as the the vice-president of the panchayat.

In fact, Mrs. Chandralekha Sankaran became the panchayat president, because Athichanallur was converted into a reserved panchayat before the last local body elections.

But now the panchayat facing a serious caste crisis.

Ganesh Sankar, the vice-president has the majority support of the ward members by the base of castes. The six ward members comprised three Thevars, two Dalits and one Nadar. So Ganesh causing delays in the panchayat works.

Any hopes of exercising his will over the panchayat had been quashed since Chandralekha would brook no interference with her duty.

"The vice-president is doing everything to stop me from functioning. He does not like me sitting on a chair in his presence," Chandralekha said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.

Unable to bear his caustic comments, Chandralekha lodged a complaint with the police, who refused to take action but forced her to reach a compromise on Ganesh's terms.

Ganesh Sankar had also instigated a lady named Arumuga Vadivu and lodged another complaint to the High Court which stated that eight men in the village had molested her, including Chandralekha's husband.

Chandralekha approached the High Court stating that this case had been foisted on the Dalits due to the election rivalry, for Thevars could not accept a Dalit as their president of the panchayat.

High Court ordered the local police to lodge a First Information Report regarding this issue. But Dalits do not expect to get justice from the police. In the judiciary they had faith.

Source: http://salemvoice.org/svmnews242.html

Dalit woman beaten to death, man burnt to death in UP

(Paul Ciniraj)

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh, India), SVM News, September 4, 2007: An elderly Dalit woman named Hirawati, 60, beaten to death by four upper caste women over a petty dispute in the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on September 3.

She was allegedly beaten to death in Chitaipur locality under the Lanka police circle area. She was pushed by one of the women following an argument after water spilled out of her bucket.

Hirawati died on the spot due to the severe attack.

Police officials said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service that four persons were arrested who had been involved for the murder of dalit woman Hirawati.

Meanwhile another 45-year-old Dalit man, Brahmadas, was allegedly burnt to death by his employers at Simbhalka village of Muzaffarnagar in UP on Friday, 31 August.

And also a Dalit woman was allegedly raped by two persons at village Sirpoi in Shajapur in Madhya Pradesh, police said on Thursday, August 30.

Source: http://salemvoice.org/svmnews241.html