Two children hit with lathis, murdered for going to attend nature's call outside their home

Ranjeet Gupta

NewsBits.in

SHIVPURI: In a tragic incident, two children were mercilessly hit with lathis and murdered in Madhya Pradesh. 

The incident has occurred at Bhavkhedi in Shivpuri in northern part of the state.

The kids--Avinash, 10 and Roshni, 12, had gone out to attend nature's call, as there is no toilet in their house.

However, Hakim Yadav, also resident of the same settlement, got upset when they saw the kids & attacked them with lathis. He and his accomplice Rameshwar hit the minors until they died.

The children belong to the Dalit community. Locals said that the attackers belong to the locally dominant group in the region. Hakim was later posing as a mentally unstable person, so that he could get away lightly, said the local residents. The police have arrested both the accused. 

The officials said that as soon as they got information, they reached the place & took the injured children to the hospital but they were declared brought dead. Hakim and Rameshwar have been booked for murder. The Sirsaud police are conducting investigation in the case.

UPDATE: GROUND REPORT FROM BHAVKHEDI

The Dalit families in Bhavkhedi said that they have run from pillar to post but didn't get benefit of schemes. Avinash's father Manoj Valmiki has no toilet at home though Bhavkhedi is 'Open Defecation Free' (ODF) declared on papers.

Valmiki didn't get sanction for construction of house under PM Awas Yojana either. Despite repeated requests, the family's application didn't go forward. In an other Dalit household, the toilet was constructed but the quality was so bad that no one in the family could use it.

The Sarpanch Suraj Yadav says that it is an 'ODF village' but not everyone uses toilet. "The toilet at Kalla Valmiki's house is closed while Manoj's family doesn't have it because it couldn't be sanctioned", he said.