The victim Kotha Laxmaiah (25) s/o Kotha Ramaiah belongs to SC caste and resident of Chinna Adirala village of Jadcherla mandal in Mahaboobnagar district. He is working as farm servant of Venkat Reddy of the same village. On 28.5.2003 his son-in-law came to him and asked to give Rs.1000/-. The victim left the village on 28.5.2003 to get the money from Amarnath Reddy of Ekwaipally. The two accused Chapala Venkataiah and Byramoni Venkataiah belong to BC caste met the victim at Kakunur and purchased liquor from the shop and reached Ekwaipally bus stop. At that time all the three were drunk. As per the plan the two accused attacked the victim with knifes and chased him in to the fields and caused multiple stab injuries and killed the victim in the fields of Gaddam Srisailam. Chapala Venkataiah the first accused threw a big boulder on the head of the victim and killed him.

On 29.5.2003 Kotha Ramaiah found the dead body of his son Kotha Laxmaiah near the agricultural land of Gaddam Srisailam in the limits of Ekwaipally village. He found stab injuries on his body and blood stained stone near his body. Jadcherla police registered the case in Crime.no.93 of 2003 u/s 302 r/w 34 IPC and S. 3(2)(v) of SC/ST POA Act, 1989. CI of Police visited the place of offence and sent the body for post mortem. The medical officer opined that the cause of death is due to injury to vital organs (lungs and brain). The accused confesses in front of CI of Police and the SDPO done the investigation and sent the accused to the judicial custody. Court said that it is a settled proportion of law that probabilities however strong and suspicion however grave, can never take the place of proof.  In this case the prosecution has not placed any material at all to prove the guilt of accused. Hence the accused cannot be found guilty of the offence. Accused no. 1 and 2 are found not guilty of the offences u/s 302 IPC and S. 3(2) (v) of SC/ST POA Act, 1989 and they are acquitted under S.235 (1) of Cr.P.C.

The deceased Hardev Manjhi belonging to Musahar(SC) in the village Dariyapur, Bihta post and police station, Patna district, Bihar state, was a labourer in the field of a non-dalit farmar. His family consisted of his wife Mati Fulkuri Devi, 65, two sons Gendhari, 30, and Tetar Manjhi, 40.

Late Hardev Manjhi was a labourer in the field of Yugal Kishor Singh, 58, s/o Ramlaxman Singh. He was an innocent worker. He was loyal to his boss. There was a land dispute between Yugalkishor Singh and Godil Singh. Hardev Manjhi was the witness from the side of his master. He gave the witness in the court in favour of his master. That was the reason for his death. On May 21, 2003 Gondhari Manjhi s/o the deceased had gone to sell the fish he had caught in the nearby market at Lai. The accused Godil Singh was taking todi (intoxicated juice) saw Gondhari Manjhi and called for him but fearing that the accused may snatch the fish he did not turn to him. Angry with that the accused got up, went to him and started beating him. On seeing him, the father of Gondhari Manjhi, late Hardev Manjhi ran to him for his rescue. The accused left Gondhari Manjhi and started beating him black and blue with sticks. The victim died on the spot.

On 21/05/2003 the FIR no. 125/03 was lodged under the IPC sections 341/ 323/ 324/ 307/ 302 and 34 but no section of SC/ST POA is registered. And on 22/05/2003, the dead body of Hardev Manjhi was taken to the Sadar Hospital in Danapur for the postmortem report. And BDO had given his family Rs. 1000 for the cremation of the deceased promising them to give Rs. 9000.00 later on, which they never got.

The trial of the case is still going on. The inquiry report has been submitted to the court and the main accused has already surrendered himself before the court. At present the accused has been arrested. No SC/ST Act has been put to the case. No compensation has been given. His master too has done no help to the family instead he has joined the accused and supporting them.

Untouchability endures as a cover for exploitative socio- economic relationships. For millions of Dalits or ‘untouchables’ at the bottom of India’s caste system the social exclusion extends to the economic realms of wages, jobs, education, and land. Dalits are denied access to land, forced to work in degrading conditions, and routinely abused at the hands of the police and of higher-caste groups. Moreover, the persistence of untouchability practices is vital in keeping the hereditary character of the caste system intact for centuries and it is much preserved in the rural India even today. It is proven at Haidra under the Jamui district of Bihar.

Babulal Das (70), S/o late Mural Ravidas, village Haidra, Po Dhanwa, Taluka Islamnagar Aliganj, police station Chandradeep, district Jamui, State Bihar, who works as a cobbler and beats drums in various occasions for the dominant caste people. As a matter of fact, on the eve of May 15, 2003, he was invited for a death ceremony of the deceased Bhola Singh by his son Uma Singh (dominant caste person). Uma Singh asked him to have dinner and go home. And so, he sat for the death ceremonial meal. Dhaneshwar Ravidas, Chandrika Ravidas, Rampravesh Ravidas s/o Bahulal Ravidas, Rajo Dhobi and Manoj Dhobi too were there with him from Haidra, who were invited for the ceremonial meal. While Babulal Das was still dining, Niranjan Singh (Village chief) caught his collar, dragged him to a public place and asked the dominant caste people to first spit on his face. He even beat him with sticks. Sakal Singh Nemha invited people of his community to pour petrol on Babulal Das’ buttock and to light him with match sticks. Rajo Rajak, who was present over there, pleaded Sakal Singh Nemha for not to do that with Babulal. They then fined Babulal for Rs. 25,000/- . In order to protect his life, Babulal Das agreed to pay the penalty. Niranjan Singh and other dominant caste people warned Babulal not to complain to the police and other officials about the incident. The accused even threatened Babulal to kill if he would do that.

In fact, the reasons behind the beating and public humiliation is referred to have the past connections. One of the reasons was that the dominant caste people of the village acted as ruffians and executed their whims and fancies upon the Dalit community. The Bhumihars freely make Dalits of the village work for them in their fields still. They even take away the shoes made by the Dalits without paying its price. And if a Dalit retaliates to that he has to face the consequences even to lose his life. No matter, in 1983, when Shyam Lal Ravidas, the brother of Babulal Das strongly retaliated to the very actions against the dominant people of the village, he was mercilessly beaten unto death. Babulal Das too was beaten on both the knees with a hammer with which he mended the shoes by Niranjan Singh. The case was registered and the hearing of the case still continued in the district court. The other major reason was that in 2004, Ramakant Singh, Ramashray Singh and Suren Singh s/o late Yadu Singh allured and cheated Shyam Lal Ravidas (brother of Babulal Das) and bought 9 decimals of land just for Rs.3000/- .

In order to take revenge for the above mentioned case, the accused Niranjan Singh s/o late Sitaram Singh, Sakal Singh, Ramakant Singh, Pappu Singh and Nago Singh from the same village physically tortured him and spat on his face in public. They now threaten Babulal for his life. On the very next day, on 16^th April, 2003, Babulal Das went to lodge the complaint in the Chandradeep police station but he was disrespected, scolded and accused of telling lies by the police personnel over there. Later, he gave written complaint to S.P. and D.S.P. of Jamui District. The fact is that they too did not take any action against the accused. The perpetrators are left scot-free still.