The tribal woman set afire by a group of land encroachers in Guna district last week succumbed to her burns at Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal on Friday.
The woman, Rampyari Bai (38) belonging to Saharia tribe that falls in the category of particularly vulnerable tribal group (PTVG), had sustained 80 per cent burns after the accused poured diesel on her and set her afire. The attack came as Rampyari Bai tried to prevent the accused from sowing the agriculture land belonging to her family at Dhanoria village in Bamori of Guna district.
The accused had encroached upon the land and had started sowing activities using a tractor on July 2, when the incident occurred. They used diesel from the same tractor to burn Rampyari Bai alive, sources said.
Superintendent of police of Guna, Pankaj Shrivastava, confirmed to THE WEEK that the woman had succumbed and said the six accused in the case will not be charged with murder. “Initially three accused had been named in the FIR and they had been arrested. However, following the statement of the victim (recorded by a nayab tehsildar), three more accused, including two women, were added to the FIR and these two women were arrested too. One accused is still absconding and we are searching for him,” the SP said.
Shrivastava had earlier told THE WEEK that the accused had encroached upon the land of the Saharia couple and the matter had reached the court of tehsildar. In May this year, the court ruled in favour of the tribal couple and the possession of land was given to them.
The accused had also shot a video of Rampyari on fire, and put in background audio to indicate that she might have attempted suicide. This video had gone viral on social media. The SP had, however, ruled out any attempt of suicide after initial probe.
Local sources said Arjun Saharia, husband of Rampyari, had given an application citing threat to life from the accused to the Bamori police on June 23, but the police failed to take any action.
Former chief minister and MP Congress chief Kamal Nath had attacked the state government on the issue. “The husband of the woman has said that he had made an application regarding a threat to safety to police on June 23, but protection was not given. I want to ask why the government has such an enemy-like attitude towards tribal communities. When will tribals become safe in the state?” he had said in a series of tweets.
