http://www.indiaenews.com/india/20070928/72506.htm
India Friday, September 28, 2007 Dalit massacre to be commemorated >From correspondents in Maharashtra, India, 09:30 AM IST Dalit groups in Maharashtra are to pay homage Saturday to a Dalit family massacred a year ago by a group of Hindus who wanted to teach them a lesson for taking them on in a criminal case. A Dalit group will hold a public meeting in Nagpur while similar functions will be organised in neighbouring Bhandara district. On Sep 29 last year, a group of non-Dalit villagers attacked the house of 50-year-old Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange and beat to death his wife Surekha, young daughter Priyanka and two sons Dilip and Roshan after dragging them out. Bhaiyyalal managed to escape moments before the slaughter in Khairlanji village. The attackers were mostly from the 'other backward classes' and were angry with the Dalit family for testifying against 12 of their community members in a case of attack on their family friend Siddharth Gajbhiye. Bhotmange's daughters Surekha and Priyanka had testified in the case. The villagers were furious for not bowing to their caste 'superiority' and accepting their demand not to give evidence. The massacre had triggered widespread protests in Maharashtra and elsewhere in the country. Police arrested 47 people, 36 of whom were discharged for want of evidence. The remaining 11 are facing trial in a special court. The government suspended three policemen and a medical officer for dereliction of duty and handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Bhaiyyalal was given a government job, a house plot and money to buy farmland. Bharatiya Republican Party and Bahujan Maha Sangh (BRP-BMS) president Prakash Ambedkar, Dalit Panthers chief Jogendra Kawade and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Brinda Karat are slated to attend the rally in Nagpur. Social activists have been invited for the meeting in Bhandara. One of the organisers, Ashok Saraswati, said that the Saturday function would be used as a launch pad for the formation of a militant youth organisation of Dalits.
