A panchayat of the Valmiki community decided to extend support to Aruna Shanbaug’s assaulter Sohanlal Bharti Walmiki and slammed the media for “targeting” him. Bharti belongs to the Valmiki community
The panchayat held at Parpa village in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur district, about 400 km from here said that Bharti had already “paid” for the crime he had committed. Bharti, who was working as a sweeper, has reportedly been dismissed from his job.
“We do not know what happened 42 years ago.....Even if Bharti had committed a crime, he has served his time in prison,” said ex-pradhan (chief) of the village, Rameshwar Singh Rana.
While terming reports that Bharti had been banished from the village as a rumour, Rana said: “We have absolutely no problem with Bharti...There is no question of throwing him out of the village.”
“Media has been targeting Bharti unnecessarily...We have decided that no media person will be allowed to meet Bharti or any of his family members,” said another villager who took part in the panchayat.
The villagers said that some media persons had barged into Bharti’s house. “We will throw stones at them (media persons) if they enter Bharti’s home,” threatened a woman of the village.
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