In a shocking news coming from Rajasthan, a man from the Dalit community has been reportedly murdered by the people from the Muslim community over an alleged love affair. Khetaram Bheel, a Dalit, was beaten to death in Ramsar police station area of Barmer district. the police suspect that a love affair with a Muslim woman was the reason behind the attack on him. Initial investigations conducted by the police revealed that the Muslim woman and Khetaram had developed a love affair while he used to work at her house. The police officials said that, “He was caught with the girl several times in the past, but instead of approaching police, the family members had settled the matter through the village panchayat.” Khetaram’s brother Gordhan Ram told the police that they had taken a piece of land on rent from Aasiyat, wife of Mahboo Khan. They had developed some disputes with the landlords and on Friday night Saddam and Hayaat Khan had asked Khetaram to accompany them for some agricultural work.
The seven accused in the case Amar Khan, Akbar Khan, Anwar Khan, Raheem Khan, Muheeb Khan, Pathai Khan and Shaukat Khan, were already present there and they started beating up the Dalit boy. Two Dalit farmers from nearby areas, Gomada Ram and Heera Ram had tried to save Khetaram but they too were attacked. The accused had tied up the victim before beating him to death. Investigations also suggest that Khetaram had tried to run away from the scene before he was mercilessly beaten to death by the seven accused who have now been picked up by the police. The complainant claimed that on Sunday Saddam Khan and Hayaat Khan had arrived at his house to tell him about the demise of his brother. The police have picked up eight of the ten accused in the case and is pursuing the case as seriously as possible as told by additional superintendent of police in Barmer, Rameshwarlal Meghwal.
There are only two types of crimes which happen in today’s India, the ones which are widely reported and widely discussed because they are committed by the Hindu majority and the rest which fail to create a stir in the society. Honour killings and mob lynching are two things which are discussed only when a Hindu family can be accused of the crime and somebody from the minority community is a victim. It is saddening how the death of a Dalit community member at the hands of Muslim family members has failed to evoke any reactions from the pseudo-liberal intellectuals. There is an increasing need in India to see a crime for the crime it is and not to pin its blame on a community or a religion. The problem with the leftist cabal is that they remember to do this only when someone from the minority community turns out to be the accused. This biased behaviour of the media houses and intellectuals in the country might make for sensational journalism and debates but tarnishes the image of the country as a whole. The Dalit family from Rajasthan should get justice and the guilty should be punished irrespective of them coming from a Muslim background.