Rahul meets victims of Haryana caste violence

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday met the relatives of a man and his disabled daughter who were burnt alive and other dalit families targeted in caste violence in a village in Haryana and assured them of stringent action against the guilty.

Rahul, who arrived unannounced in Mirchpur village, 350 km from Chandigarh, went to nearly 18 dalit households affected in the April 21 violence.

Amid scorching heat as temperature soared to 45 degrees Celsius, Rahul spent nearly 50 minutes with those affected by the violence and consoled them.

He patiently listened to the affected families who demanded that they should be rehabilitated somewhere else, sources said. Rahul told them that he will speak to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in this regard and also apprise Congress president Sonia Gandhi of the demand.

Accompanied by senior party leader Prithvi Raj Chavan, Rahul met the family members of 70-year-old Tara Chand and his daughter Suman, 18, who were killed when members of a particular community torched 18 houses belonging to dalits in the Congress-ruled state.

He told them that "the guilty would not be spared and stringent action would be taken against them," a party leader said. The Congress general secretary told the family that their demands and other issues would be placed before higher authorities.

"Rahul also interacted with members of other dalit families in the village," Dheeraj Chahal, village Tehsildar (revenue officer), who was present during the Congress leader's visit, told PTI.

The state authorities as well as the party unit had no prior information about Rahul's visit. "The villagers were surprised when they learnt that Rahul had come," Chahal said, adding that the leader's convoy included three vehicles.

"We were not aware about his visit. Probably he wanted that he should have a quiet interaction with those who had been affected," Haryana Congress President Phool Chand Mullana said.

During his visit two days back, Hooda had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each for the next of kin of each deceased and financial assistance of Rs 25,000 and free treatment for the injured.

On the demand of the affected families that they be rehabilitated elsewhere, Mullana said, "Even during the CM's visit they had said so, but we assured them that the Government is committed to ensure their safety and security."

The incident had triggered protests from dalits and the main opposition Indian National Lok Dal had demanded Hooda's resignation. The Mirchpur incident was also raised in Parliament during the ongoing session.

Image: Rahul Gandhi