Children of a Dalit couple who reportedly consumed pesticide while resisting eviction from a land in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district. Photo: Special Arrangement
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan orders high-level inquiry
The Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission has sought a report within three weeks from the Gwalior Inspector-General of Police and Guna Collector and Superintendent of Police over an incident involving a Dalit couple reportedly consuming pesticide while resisting an anti-encroachment drive on Tuesday.
Taking suo motu cognisance of media reports, the Commission’s Chairman Narendra Kumar Jain sent them the notices on Thursday. The couple cultivated swathes of a plot of land allotted for the construction of a government college on the outskirts of Guna.
“The man had said he had leased the land from Gappu Pardi. After taking a loan, he had sown fields. But the officials didn’t listen,” the Commission said in a note. The officials came to demarcate land and bulldozed their fields. Protesting against the drive, the couple reportedly consumed pesticide, and while being ta