The Madhya Pradesh Police have arrested three people for allegedly stopping a Dalit family from performing the last rites of their relative at a cremation ground in Guna district, an official told PTI on Monday.
The incident happened on April 29 in Chandpura village, 62 kilometres from the Guna district headquarters. After family members took 70-year-old Kanhaiya Ahirwar’s body to the cremation ground, the three accused persons allegedly stopped them from going ahead with the funeral rites, Kumbhraj police station in-charge Sanjeet Mawai told PTI.
The family was reportedly told that they “belong to a small caste”, according to a tweet by Suraj Kumar Bauddh, the founder of Mission Ambedkar. “Do not burn the dead body on the platform of the cremation ground. Burn it on the ground below.”
The family was forced to perform Ahirwar’s last rites at a open ground near the crematorium.
The police have registered a case against the three persons under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The accused persons have been identified as Narayan Singh Meena, Rambharose Meena and Dilip Meena, PTI reported.
They have been sent to jail after being produced before a court on Saturday.
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