Khairlanji massacre survivor to move SC

To File Plea Against HC Ruling Which Commuted Death Sentence Of Accused


In a major setback to the Congress-led UPA government, Bhaiyyalal Bhotmage, the lone survivor of the Khairlanji massacre, has decided to personally file an appeal in the Supreme Court against an order of the Bombay High Court which commuted the death sentence awarded to the eight accused to life imprisonment.


He told newspersons here on Wednesday that he has lost faith in the CBI, which is under the central government. He and his associates said till the last moment the CBI did not bother to counter the appeal filed by the accused in the HC against the judgment of the trial court. They said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other leaders promised that the CBI, which investigated the gruesome rape and murder case, would expeditiously appeal to the apex court, but nothing has been done so far.


Four members of the family of Bhotmange, a Dalit, were tortured and murdered by those belonging to OBC kunbi caste in Khairlanji village in Bhandara district on September 29, 2006. Two women members of the family were also paraded naked in the village and raped.


“Today I met chief minister Ashok Chavan, who also assured that justice would be done. But apart from giving empty promises, nothing is being done to help me get justice. Hence, I have decided to file an appeal of my own. I have lost faith in politicians,” Bhotmange said.


A team of of four lawyers of Nagpur is drafting the appeal. “A senior counsel will be engaged to fight my appeal. I will not rest till I get justice,” he stated. He said there were several deficiencies in the police investigation at the initial stage itself.


He said the Prevention of Atrocities Act should have been pressed by the CBI because the violence was certainly because the victims were Dalits. He was silent when asked about the compensation received by him. But his colleagues said under prevention of atrocities Act, various amounts of compensation was available to the victims depending on the seriousness of the crime. “But victims of rape and the families of those murdered do not want compensation, but justice,” he added.


With Bhotmange, who is beginning to emerge as a rallying point for Dalits across the state, the Congress, which is heading the governments at the Centre and the state is finding itself on the backfoot. In private, the Congress is blaming the NCP, whose RR Patil is heading the home ministry, for the initial bungling of the investigation. But NCP sources said Patil had promptly handed over the probe to the CBI and ensured full cooperation to the central investigation agency which made it possible to secure a conviction and death sentence for the accused at the sessions trial. “The CBI is under the prime minister and it is for him to ensure that the CBI succeeds in getting justice to Bhotmange,” a senior NCP minister observed.
Source: The Times of India dated 29.07.10.

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