Piyush Tiwari, a 23-year-old belonging to the upper caste was arrested on December 9 in Bihar on charges of murdering a 17-year-old Dalit girl. The murder took place on December 5 in the Tatisilwai area of Ranchi district, Jharkhand.
According to the police, the deceased – Pallavi Kumari – was a resident of Bariatu. She was a hotel management student at the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra while her parents worked at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi.
It is alleged that Pallavi Kumari and Piyush Tiwari were in a relationship. Superintendent of Police Naushad Alam said that Tiwari, during the interrogation process, had confessed to the crime. “Tiwari said that he lost his cool when Pallavi was pressurising him for marriage,” the SP said.
Murder day and the events that followed
On December 5, Pallavi received a phone call and told her mother that she is going out. “She told me she will be back in sometime. But we started worrying after her phone went off,” Pallavi’s mother said.
Pallavi’s body was later found on the railway tracks at Tatisilwai railway station. There were wounds on her body indicating she was hit with a sharp object.
Soon after the murder, Dalits started protesting seeking the arrest of Piyush Tiwari, who had by then fled to Bihar.
“Just because Pallavi was a daughter of a Dalit, there is no investigation. The one who died was from a lower caste and the one who is responsible for her death is from an upper caste. That is why even the police are not taking this seriously. Today as we mourn the death of one of our daughters, the Bharatiya Janata Party is busy celebrating their win. Where is the justice?” asked an angry protestor.
SP Alam had ensured that they have formed a special investigating team to nab Tiwari. “I went to the murder spot and spoke to people who were witnesses to the murder. We have enough evidence against Tiwari. He will be brought to justice,” the SP said.
Tiwari was finally arrested in Bihar on December 9.
