The incident led to raising tension and heated protests by Dalit groups.
AB Wire
A Dalit couple was hacked to death with an axe by an upper-caste shopkeeper on Thursday after they failed to clear a debt of Rs 15 in Lakhnipur village of Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri district.
The couples Bharat Nat, 45, and Mamta, 40 were walking towards their field for daily farm labour when the village shopkeeper, Ashok Mishra, encountered them. Mishra wanted the pair to repay Rs 15 for biscuit packets they purchased few days ago.
“The heads of both of them were severed; the man’s body had nine wounds and woman’s seven,” police officer who visited the incident spot told media.
Officials also said that the security in the village has been stepped up and policemen deputed to protect the three children left behind by the couple.
The children- boys aged 11, nine and eight- were in a state of shock and unable to speak, police said. They added that the couple also had two married daughters; one of them, staying in another village, has been informed about the incident.
Police arrested the main accused Ashok Mishra and his wife Rajni after breaking down the door of their house when they refused to come out, fearing retaliation from the crowd gathered outside.
The incident, that took place just 4 km away from Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s family house in Saifai, led to raising tension and heated protests by Dalit groups and could spark a political backlash against the ruling SP in the poll-bound state.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayavati, a four time chief minister, is citing alleged atrocities on Dalit and other lower cast people to rally her votes ahead of polls.
Mainpuri is represented in the Lok Sabha by Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, the grand-nephew of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The administration deployed personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in Lakhimpur village, fearing law and order trouble.