Bokaro: A 25-year-old pregnant Dalit woman died after attempting to intervene in a dispute over the collection of leftover coal in Jharkhand‘s Bokaro district.
The incident occurred along a railway siding at the Dhaura coal site on Friday night, May 29. The deceased Anita Devi was part of a group of women collecting leftover coal, an activity commonly practiced by local families who use it for household needs.
The dispute over the sharing of coal escalated into a physical altercation. Devi had reportedly collapsed, bleeding profusely during the scuffle with the family members, only noticing after the dispute ended. She was rushed to the Regional Hospital in Dhori, where she was declared dead upon arrival.
Local authorities said initial findings revealed there was scuffling and pushing, and Anita fell unconscious during the altercation. “Women in the locality regularly collect leftover coal from the siding area for household use. The dispute appears to have started over sharing of the coal,” Bermo police said.
Although no external visible injury marks were found, the police were waiting for the results of the medical examination to understand the exact cause of death.
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Husband files police complaint
Devi’s husband, Mahesh Bhuiyan, on Saturday, May 30, lodged a complaint claiming the dispute turned violent. He alleged that the police were trying to conceal the identity of those responsible for Devi’s death. In his statement, Bhuiyan alleged that the dispute arose from the issue of the collection and distribution of coal from the railway siding, emphasising that his wife was pregnant at the time of the incident.
Acting on the complaint, the police registered a case and formed special teams to investigate the case. They subsequently launched raids and arrested six accused individuals, including Bablu Kumar alias Bablu Bhuiyan, Surendra Bhuiyan, Virendra Kumar Bharti, Rahul Digar, Dhiren Bhuiyan alias Dhiren Kumar Bharti, and Rajesh Kumar.
The Bermo Sub-Sivisional Police Officer, Ravindra Singh, held a press conference after the arrest, during which he said that the police are conducting raids to apprehend the remaining accused named in the first information report.
The authorities have maintained that the incident was over the local practice of coal collection, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
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