Fearing arrest, villagers flee Rainpada

NASHIK: Rainpada village in Dhule district wore a deserted look on Monday, a day after five men were lynched there by a mob of 1,500 people on suspicion of being childlifters. Fearing arrest, most of the 750 residents of the village had fled their homes even as the police arrested 23 people and launched a manhunt for nine others who have been identified as part of the lynch mob.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of each of the five victims. He expressed sorrow over the violence and said, “The government aid will not bring the dead back to their families. This is just a small help for the families to support themselves.” He instructed the police to track down those spreading vicious rumours on social media.

The Dhule police maintained tight security in Rainpada but had only empty houses to guard. Some of the houses were not secured properly, an indication of the haste with which the inhabitants had left. Only about 15-20 elderly villagers stayed behind, knowing they would not be arrested.

The government ashramshala close to the village was also empty, with none of the 450 students turning up. The school has around 50 students from Rainpada, but even the remaining children coming from nearby hamlets stayed away.

Senior police officials said the villagers could have left for Gujarat, whose border is just 35km from the Pimpalner police station where the offence of murder and rioting has been registered. The police said the villagers usually go to Gujarat to work as labourers after the monsoon every year. The hilly forested area around Rainpada offers three or four exit routes to Gujarat, which the villagers are familiar with.

“We are communicating with the Gujarat police to help nab the culprits,” said additional superintendent of police Vivek Pansare.

Pansare said the nine people who they are searching for were identified from the pictures and video clips taken by bystanders during the lynching.

Pansare said the victims, who hailed from Khave village of Mangalvedha taluka in Solapur, had in their possession a certificate issued by the sarpanch of Rainpada which stated that they were travelling around the country to seek alms since their village was drought-prone.

The five men had arrived at Pimpalner on Saturday with their families and had left for Rainpada on Sunday to seek alms during the weekly bazaar there. People from other hamlets had also come for the bazaar. Before coming to Pimpalner, the families of the victims had gone to seek alms in nearby villages too.

Over the past few weeks, rumours were flying thick and fast that child-lifter were on the prowl. On seeing the five men in Rainpada, the villagers started thrashing them. The victims were later taken to the gram panchayat and beaten to death.