Report- Pratikshit Singh/Ritwik Dutta

Justice eludes the families of those killed in the most brutal massacre in the history of Bihar.

Bihar— A tragedy which visited upon a riverine village in Bihar continues to rankle its residents and the survivors. The Dalits of Laxmanpur Bathe in South Bihar of Arwal (carved out from Jehanabad in 2001) had to pay a heavy price for defying the time-honored oppression of the community.

Allegedly, more than 100 accused members of Ranvir Sena, an upper-caste militia private army set up by the landlords back then armed with weapons, reached the Basti of Laxmanpur Bathe. Their sole aim was to kill and silence the landless Dalits who were starting to assert themselves and claim their rights. This threatened the domination of upper-caste people residing in the area.

The residents of the villages were caught unawares

During the assault, which lasted three hours 58 people were killed, out of which 5 were the people who ferried them to the Basti on a boat as there is no motorable road to connect the place to the rest of Bihar.

Although subjected to discrimination from the upper caste their whole life, the firings were indiscriminate as the victims included many children, a one-year-old and also a pregnant woman.

This cold-blooded killing took place on a cold night of 1^st December 1997.

The police records state that 4 Dalit families were completely wiped off during this carnage.  The State was being ruled by the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) and the then Chief Minister Rabri Devi came under heavy attack. 

The incident shocked the entire nation and became a matter of political debate and national concern.

Former President Late KR Narayanan called it a "national shame". Presently, it indeed seems that no one was killed and the judiciary seems to be a travesty of justice.

THE PROTRACTED AND FRUITLESS TRIAL

The original number of accused in the atrocity was 46, out of which 19 were let off as one turned as the approver.

In a very disappointing verdict announced on 10^th October 2013, all of the accused in the case were released by the high court with a judgment, on the grounds that there was no reliable evidence. Interestingly earlier in 2010, a lower court found the evidence sufficient enough to sentence at least 16 of the accused to death and 10 others of a life sentence.

The villagers who waited for years for justice to be served found it shocking and heart-wrenching.

The prime accused Dharma Singh was arrested after he went into hiding for 16 years. The state government had also put up a reward money of 1 lac for his arrest 2 of the accused in the case died during the trial and Singh successfully remained absconding for 16 years.

AFTERMATH: HOPES SHATTERED AND FAITH IN THE SYSTEM LOST

The news of the acquittal was obscured by a big cricketing event- The retirement of Sachin Tendulkar.

The CPI(M-L) called for a Bandh and said that it will appeal to the apex court against the verdict.

According to a report by the first post, one of the villagers Laxman Rajvanshi who lost family members in the attack says, "There is no law to protect us because we are poor."

Rajwanshi was also one of the eye-witnesses of the incident and was reportedly offered Rs 75 Lakh to change his statement but he resolutely rebuffed the offer.

One of another villager in the report says Baudh Paswan, (70) "Sarkar, judge, collector aur thana ne batadiya ki garib ki aukatbakari ki hotihai."

"Everyone, the government, police and collector has made us understand that the life of people like us is worthless."

Although there was a reprisal for the killings in the form of the Senari Massacre, where 34 People belonging to the Bhumihar community were killed. But what made adds to the sheer anguish of the Laxmanpur Bathe massacre was that in the case of the Senari Massacre, most of the accused, who belonged to the Dalit Community were convicted and are in prison whereas the perpetrators of the Laxman Pur Bathe Massacre roam free.

As the dastardly tragedy completes 25 years on 1^st December. The families of those killed are yet to get justice but the hope is dying a slow death as time wears on.