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| main entrance of Lakhvad village, around 3-4 kilometres from Mehsana |
A dalit woman sarpanch from Lakhvad village of Mehsana
district, Kamla Makwana, her husband, their son and two others were arrested
late Tuesday on the basis of a recent complaint of breach of trust and criminal
intimidation lodged by former deputy sarpanch Ratilal Patel. They were later
sent to Mehsana district jail after a local magisterial court rejected their
bail petitions.
She had reportedly filed multiple
complaints of harassment against her predecessor from locally dominant Patel
community, Prahlad Patel, and his then deputy, Ratilal Patel. Both Ratilal and
Prahlad allegedly didn't want to let Kamla function as the village Sarpanch.
Following the arrest, the jailed woman
sarpanch now wants to resign after getting fed up of the harassment she has
been subjected to by her predecessors, sources said.
Kamla was elected as the sarpanch of
Lakhvad Gram Panchayat in January last year under the Gujarat government's
Samras Yojna where instead of electing, villagers are selecting the sarpanch
and other members of the gram panchayat. However, she allegedly started facing
harassment at the behest of Prahald who was the Sarpanch of the village before
her.
She made a number of complaints to
different authorities like the district development officer, state Human Rights
Commission and local police. The complaints include evidence to prove that
Prahlad had been misusing the old letterheads of the gram panchayat and issuing
various certificates to the villagers while forging Kamla's signature. She also
lodged two complaints against Prahald and Ratilal under the provisions of the
Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
However, on April 3, Ratilal Patel, who
was deputy sarpanch in the village when Prahald was sarpanch, lodged a criminal
complaint against Kamla, her husband Kachra Makwana, son Bharat, and two
friends — Bharat Patel and Ramila Patel — with Mehsana taluka police station.
According to the complaint, the
Makwanas wanted to get loan of Rs 1.80 lakh from the Scheduled Caste
Development Corporation to buy a rickshaw in 2004. And Ratilal — under the
recommendation of Bharat Patel and Ramila Patel — had become a guarantor for
the same on the basis of one of his land pieces. He alleges that the Makwanas
assured him of paying regular instalments for the loan.
However, the Makwanas alleges Ratilal
did not pay the instalments for the loan and in 2013 when he asked them to pay
it so that the government dues on his land could be cleared, they allegedly
threatened him and did not pay the amount. Ratilal has accused the Makwanas and
Patels of breach of trust, criminal intimidation and abetment.
On Tuesday, Sub-Inspector of Mehsana
taluka police station, D K Rathod, reportedly asked the five to get their
statements recorded in the case and when they went to police, the five were
arrested and produced before a magisterial court. Immediately, their advocate,
Jayanti Parmar, moved bail petitions. However, Parmar said the petitions were
rejected, following which they were sent to Mehsana district jail.
Kamla's younger son, Manoj (22), and
his wife Sonal, are now the only members of the family out. "This entire
case has been fabricated to harass my mother as she did not agree to be a puppet
in the hands of Prahlad Patel after being elected Sarpanch. The entire state
machinery of Mehsana is working against us at the behest of Prahlad who openly
boasts closeness to some top politicians in the Gujarat government," Manoj
said.
However, Ratilal denied the allegations
and said, "I had mortgaged my land to the Scheduled Caste Development
Corporation for this family to buy a rickshaw. They did not pay the instalments
of the loan for nine years. And if they do not pay the instalment, it is possible
that my land is auctioned by the state government. I asked them repeatedly to
pay the amount and when they did not do so, I had to file the complaint."
The investigation officer in the case,
S I Rathod, said the police have acted completely on the merits of the case.
Manoj met his mother in jail Wednesday. "She is very disturbed and has
decided to resign from the post. She told me that it is better to live a
peaceful life than to indulge in public life," he said.
(courtesy: Indian Express, 18 April, 2013)
