Unnao, Uttar Pradesh
Early this morning between 9.30 am and 10 am, the bodies of two minor Dalit cousins, aged 15 and 17, were buried in their village of Baburaha in Unnao district, about 35 kilometres from Lucknow. Two days after three Dalit girls, all cousins, went missing after going to gather fodder and two were found dead, it is still unclear what happened between 3 pm and 7 pm on February 17. The girls had gone to the fields to bring back fodder, like they did every day.
In the small house that the 15-year-old deceased girl lived in, the clay stove bears some remnants of ash and firewood is piled in a corner. By the stove are some stiff, stale rotis and leftover subzi in a bowl — she had made them the day she went missing.
Her elderly grandparents are crushed. “When our bitiya (grand-daughter) was only twelve days old, her mother died. We struggled to find milk for her. If she had to die, she could have died with her mother. We raised her well, and I wonder who cast an evil eye on her,” her grandmother wept while speaking with Gaon Connection.
The 15-year-old girl who died lived with her grandparents after her father remarried. The fodder was for the many animals in the household. Her grandfather pointed out to the buffaloes tethered at the entrance. “Since we are old, she has been the one bringing fodder from the fields for the animals, and giving them water. She has been our support. Where will we go now?” he wept.
The dead minor’s house has a small room with a few utensils, a box, a pair of new sandals that she got, and a few old clothes hanging on the line.
After the post-mortem, the bodies of the girls reached the village at around 6 pm yesterday on February 18 and were kept in their homes. Their aggrieved family was inconsolable. They swooned with grief and relatives sprinkled water on their faces to get them to open their eyes.
The entire village, about three kilometres from Asoha constabulary, is in shock and desperate to know what happened. The frequent cries of some family members pierced the silence of the night. There’s a large police presence in the village too.
The administration sent a JCB last afternoon to dig a burial pit, but following protests, work stopped. But, they resumed work again when it was time for the bodies to reach the village. The work was stopped again after the family opposed. They were unwilling to perform the last rites at night. Two dead girls were finally buried today morning.
At about 7 pm on February 17, the three girls were found in a mustard field — their throats and hands allegedly tied with their dupatta. They were rushed to a nearby private hospital and then to the community health centre at Asoha. The doctor there pronounced two cousins dead upon arrival. The third cousin, aged 16, was sent to the district hospital and then taken to Kanpur; her condition remains critical.
In between heart-breaking sobs, the mother of the deceased 17-year-old wonders who did this to her daughter. “We have no animosity with anyone. My daughter used to mind her business. I wish the person who did this to her suffers as much,” she told Gaon Connection.
“My daughter made us tea yesterday morning [February 17] and we ate together in the afternoon. I also went to gather fodder, but was a little further away in some other field. I returned in the evening and began looking for her,” she recalled.
“I am still in shock after hearing that two of them are dead. They were simple, innocent children. They hung around their doorsteps and we laughed easily,” a neighbour told Gaon Connection.
