In MP Village, Jatav Family Alleges Police Lathicharge Killed Their 10-Month-Old Child

The Karera-Bhitarwar road, passing through Ramnagar Gadhai, a remote village in Madhya Pradesh’s Narwar Tehsil, 60 kilometres from Shivpuri district,… had remained largely unheard of until November 9 this year when it first got media attention after a scuffle broke out between the Jatav family and the police, in which the family’s youngest member, 10-month-old Shiva, died, allegedly as a result of police lathicharge….

“I was cutting paddy in our field and was carrying my boy. From the field, I saw the police beating my husband and other family members. I thought of intervening to save my husband…,” said Vandana. Then, things escalated suddenly, she said. “They hit my leg with a baton and hit my child on the head. My husband snatched the baby from my hands as I fainted. When I regained consciousness, I heard everyone screaming, ‘Take the baby away, take the baby away’,” she said.

While speaking to this reporter, her voice choked several times. Meanwhile, Ashok did not realise that their child was hurt. “I kept arguing with the police while holding the baby in my arms. But when I felt that my shirt was getting wet, I realised that my son was bleeding and was unconscious. His breathing was very slow. We rushed him to the Karera hospital in the tehsildar’s vehicle but he lost his life on the way,” he said….

This article originally appeared in The Wire.