28, Sep 2015

Of the 130 families at the farm, houses of 18 were burnt down in the riots. The state government gave the 18 Rs 25.11 lakh as compensation and built homes for them under the Indira Awas Yojana.
Written by Khushboo Sandhu | Mirchpur | Published:September 27, 2015 1:08 am
Five years after his 70-year-old father and 18-year-old disabled sister were burnt to death in Mirchpur village in Hisar district in Haryana, Amar Chauhan, 34, and his family continue to live under police protection. Their new house, in Hisar city, is located near the residence of the deputy commissioner, and is 60 km away from their village.
The policemen move with the family members every time they go for court hearings and sometimes even when they go to work. Amar and younger brother Pradeep, 24, were hired as clerks at the deputy commissioner’s office after the April 2010 riots, in which a mob of over 400 Jats targeted Dalits, leaving two members of the Chauhan family dead and 52 others injured. Another brother, Ravinder, 28, works as a peon.
While the Chauhans received a compensation of Rs 20 lakh and government accommodation a year after the incident, the other survivors of the riots continue to live in a farmhouse in tents, 2 km from Hisar. Over 300 Dalit families had fled Mirchpur following the violence.