About 31 years have gone by and the Tsundur massacre case is yet to see a final judgement. The case is pending in the Supreme Court and the members of the rights group who assembled near the Gandhi Statue opposite the GVMC office here on Friday raised their voice for a speedy trial and a logical end to the case.
On August 6, 1991, eight members from a Dalit community were allegedly hacked to death by the members of the upper caste Reddy community in Tsundur village in Guntur district.
The case hit national headlines, as media had reported how the Dalits, who were minorities, in the village were subjected to inhuman treatment and regarded as untouchables and on that day the menfolk from the community were driven to the agriculture fields and hacked to death. Their bodies were stuffed into gunny bags and thrown into the river and canal, said V.S. Krishna of the Human Rights Forum.
The village was under siege and it took over 24 hours for a woman to escape and walk about 40 km to report the case to the District Collector. Only then, things started to move, said S. Venkat Ramana of Dalit Vimukti, who organised the solidarity meet.
Cases were booked against about 212 persons in about 12 separate cases, but in 2014, all of them were acquitted by a Division Bench of the AP High Court, citing that the prosecution had failed to prove the exact time of death, place of occurrence of the incident and also failed to identify the attackers. “Since then the case is in the Supreme Court and we are yet to get a judgement,” said Mr. Venkat Rao.
The members of the rights group pointed out that there had been no let-up in the atrocities against the Dalits, which were continuing in some form or the other.
“We demand the implementation of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, in its true letter and spirit,” said Mr. Krishna.
M. Lakshmi from the Progressing Organisation for Women and others were present.
