Police in Chitwan said that the statements of eyewitnesses and their own investigations clearly show that it was planned murder. “It has been learnt that the murder was in fact planned,” said head of the investigation team, Bhopal Kumar. [break]
According to Kumar, the main reason behind the murder was a family dispute. “Dhageni Devi had become a victim of her domineering and egoistic relatives,” Kumar said. “A detailed description of the incident as narrated by locals shows that the family of Bikana Mahato, Dhageni´s brother-in-law, had plotted to kill her,” he added.
Bikana Mahato and Dhageni´s family had a long-running dispute over land. Bikana´s family was influential because of his affiliation with the Maoist party, and they were also richer than Dhageni´s. Some five bigas of land belonging to Dhageni was later taken possession of by Bikana after he won a court case that had gone on for 13 years and was finally decided in 1988.
After villagers put moral pressure on him, Bikana had returned 10 katta of the land to Dhageni. While Bikana was well off, his brother (Dhageni´s husband) had to take up lowly jobs as he lacked enough land for sustenance. Animosity between the two families had intensified over time.
“Bikana´s family had begun to torture Dhagani since quite some time back,” said local woman Bhagwati Chaudhari. “Sister, one hears you go here and there to learn witchcraft; can you teach the same to us?” Chaudhari quoted Bikana´s family members as saying to the deceased.
The discord was further fueled by Jogeshwor, a popular traditional healer. “He said there was a witch in the Mahato family, and Bikana´s family promptly pointed the finger at Dhegeni,” said Chaudhari. “However, Dhageni never objected; she continued to work on their land whenever ordered to,” she added.
An eyewitness said Dhageni was attacked from behind while she was headed for the toilet. “They were beating her up right in front of me and when I shouted out they tried to thrash me as well; soon they poured kerosene over her and set her on fire, in front of my own eyes,” he said.
While investigation of the case is still on-going, Kumar said it is almost certain the murder was planned by Bikana´s family. “All the suspects arrested have been giving their statements to police. We should soon reach a conclusion,” he said.
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