Faridabad/Chandigarh, Oct 21: Two children were burnt alive while their parents were reported to be critical when the house of a Dalit family in Haryana’s Faridabad district was set on fire Tuesday, police said. Three of the 11 accused have been arrested. The house of Jitender in Sun Perh village near Ballabgarh ws doused with petrol and set on fire.
Villagers Dushyant and Vipin said that Jitender, his wife Rekha, four-year-old son Vaibhav and eight-month-old daughter Divya were rushed to Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital. Police said Vaibhav and Divya succumbed to burn injuries.
“Some criminals burnt a Jatav family of village Sun Perh, police station Sadar Ballabhgarh of Faridabad district, when they were sleeping inside their house. Four members including Jitender, his wife Rekha and two small children namely Vaibhav (son) aged 2 years and Divya (daughter) aged 9 months were inside the room. The fire spread inside the room and both the children expired. Jitender and his wife Rekha also sustained burn injuries,” said a police spokesman in Chandigarh.
Police have booked 11 people for murder, attempt to murder and other sections of the Indian Penal Code and SC/ST Act.
Police said that an incident that took place October 5, 2014, when three people were killed in clashes between two groups of the village, may have led to Tuesday’s arson. As many as 19 people, including three members of Jitender’s family, were booked for triple murder after the 2014 violence. The accused were arrested, the chargesheet submitted in court January 3 and the case is under trial, the police spokesman said.
Following tension in the village, all shops were closed and heavy police force was deployed in the area.
Deputy commissioner of police, Ballabgarh, Bhupinder Singh said that the situation in the area was tense but under control. In Chandigarh, a state government spokesman said that three accused, Balwant, Dharam Singh and Kartar of Ballabgarh, have been arrested.
Taking a serious note of the incident, Union minister of social justice Thawar Chand Gehlot assured all required assistance to the victim’s parents who also sustained injuries in the attack.
Gehlot reacted cautiously to the possibility of caste angle being behind the attack, saying the same can be ascertained only after the probe in this regard. “Two children have died in the incident. Their father is out of danger, but mother has received 75 per cent burn injuries, is what we have been informed. The Haryana government has extended them all the help including medical treatment and financial assistance. We are in constant touch with the Haryana Chief Minister (Manohar Lal Khattar) in this regard,” Gehlot said.
The minister said from the initial reports, it appeared there was “old enmity” between the two families. “But truth will be out only after the probe is over,” Gehlot said.
He said minister of state for social justice Krishna Pal Singh, the local MP, is keeping a close tab on the situation.
Gehlot also appreciated Khattar taking “immediate” action in this regard by declaring a high-level probe in the matter and announcing compensation of `10 lakh to the surviving victims.
The Union home ministry has sought a report from state administration in this regard.IANS
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