CBI files case in Dalit children's killing in Haryana

The CBI has registered a case in an arson attack at a Faridabad village in Haryana that left two Dalit children dead and their mother battling for life.

A First Information Report (FIR) was filed against 11 persons on charges of murder, voluntarily causing hurt, rioting with deadly weapon and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The central agency has taken over the case from Haryana Police.

Those named in the FIR are Balwant, his son Dharm Singh, Jagat, Edal, Naunihal, Joginder, Sooraj, Akash, Aman, Sanjay and Desh Raj of Sunped village.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sources said the case was registered late Wednesday night and a team of agency officials visited the crime scene on Thursday.

According to sources, a special CBI team headed by a Deputy Inspector General-level officer collected forensic and circumstantial evidence from the spot and launched the process to collect information about the crime.

A group of upper caste men set ablaze the house of a Dalit, Jitender, in Sunped village in Faridabad district on October 20 morning, in which his wife Rekha, four-year-old son Vaibhav and eight-month-old daughter Divya suffered burn injuries.

Vaibhav and Divya later succumbed to burn injuries while their mother is still in critical condition in Safdarjang Hospital in Delhi. Jitender also received injuries while trying to save them.

As the incident sparked outrage in the country, the Haryana government decided on a CBI probe.

The state government has suspended eight policemen, including the head of Sadar police station, and those deputed to guard Sunped village.

The Haryana Police said the arson was linked to a clash on October 5, 2014, in Sunped in which three upper caste people were killed. Three members of Jitender's family were among the 11 jailed for the violence.