Houses set on fire; physically-challenged girl dead

HISAR - An 18-year-old physically challenged Dalit girl was burnt alive after she was trapped in her house which was set on fire by members of a dominant community in Haryana’s Hisar district Wednesday.

“Some miscreants set some houses in Mirchpur village on fire. A girl, Suman, who could not run out of the house, died of burn injuries. Her father, 70-year-old Tara Chand, is admitted in hospital with 90 per cent burns,” O.P. Sheron, deputy commissioner of Hisar, told reporters, here.

He added: “We have beefed up security in the area and are conducting raids to nab the accused. We have not ascertained the number of houses that were burnt as we are still surveying the area.”

However, police sources said the incident was result of an old enmity between two communities.

Scores of youths from the majority Jat community allegedly burnt down around 12 to 15 houses belonging to Dalits, the sources said.

“Some members of the Dalit community had beaten up Jat youths over an altercation related to eve-teasing. The local panchayat (village council) intervened and settled a compromise between the two parties,” said a police official, on condition of anonymity.

“To take revenge from the Dalits, Jat youths burnt their houses after pouring kerosene on them,” the official said.

Police have registered a case against unknown persons and started investigations.