M A I N   N E W S

7 Dalits burnt alive in Karnataka

BANGALORE, March 12 (UNI, PTI) — Seven Dalits, including three women, were burnt alive after a caste Hindu was fatally stabbed due to previous enmity at Kambalapalli in Kolar district of Karnataka late last night.

Chief Minister S.M. Krishna and Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, who rushed to the scene of carnage, ordered a judicial inquiry by a high court judge into the incident and announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh each to the families of the deceased.

Giving details of the incident, Director-General of Police T. Srinivasulu, who visited the village along with the Home Minister, said a group of Dalits had fatally attacked Krishna Reddy with lethal weapons around 7 p.m. last night.

Krishna Reddy’s relatives and supporters, in retaliation, attacked a colony of Dalits in the village and set fire to two huts, where some of the Dalits, who had assaulted Krishna Reddy, were hiding. Six persons, who were in a hut, were charred to death while two others, who were in another hut, sustained burns. One of them succumbed to the burns on the way to a hospital.

Mr Srinivasulu said additional forces had been deployed in the town and 18 persons had been taken into custody. The Karnataka Government announced a judicial probe into the clash.

Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters on arrival here from the troubled spot that the government would write to the Chief Justice of the high court to nominate a sitting or retired judge for the inquiry.

He warned that the government would not tolerate “such atrocities” in any part of the state and would deal with them with an “iron hand”.

Mr Kharge said the government was ready to rehabilitate the Dalits if they wanted to move to a different place. It would also extend financial assistance to them, he said.

Unconfirmed reports said Krishna Reddy was one of the accused in the murder of a Dalit last year. The victim was the brother of Sriramappa, who was among those burnt alive.

The Chief Minister, who returned from New Delhi this morning, cancelled all his programmes in his home district Mandya and neighbouring Mysore and rushed to the village. He consoled the families of the victims and assured them that the guilty would be booked.