Dalit triple murder: court nod for polygraph tests

Pune: With Dalit groups in Maharashtra seething over alleged police inaction in the unsolved triple murder of a Dalit family in Ahmednagar district, the District and Sessions court on Monday gave the green signal for polygraph tests on five witnesses.

“We had submitted an application to the court to conduct the tests as there was strong discrepancy in the versions of these witnesses,” said Inspector General of Police (Nashik Range), Pravin Salunkhe, speaking to The Hindu.

Mr. Salunkhe, however, refused to divulge any names. Even after 18 days, the police have not detained any suspect.The dismembered bodies of Sanjay Jadhav, his wife Jayashree and their teenage son, Sunil, were discovered on October 22 by their relatives in the village of Javkhede Khalasa in Pathardi taluk.

According to sources, the tests are to be conducted on members of the upper-caste Wagh family, who lived on land adjacent to the Jadhavs, and some of their relatives.

There is speculation that the murders are ‘honour killings’ by the Wagh household.

“We demand narco-analysis tests on suspects, if any. It is high time the police discover the motive for the murders,” said Republican Party of India (A) leader Sunil Salve.

Trial begins in Sonai case

The slaughter of the Jadhav family, which has sent shockwaves across Maharashtra, mirrors the murder of three Dalit youths in Ahmednagar’s Sonai village in January 2013, in which the trio were hacked to death and their mutilated body parts scattered in a septic tank.

Almost a year-and-a-half after the crime, the trial of the accused in the Sonai killings began in the Nashik Sessions Court on Monday. The hearings are to last four days with a verdict expected by the end of the week, said special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.

Mr. Nikam is also likely to take over the Javkhede murder case, said government sources.

Source: The Hindu