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Dinanath Baitha, the Dalit truck driver illegally confined and tortured in July last year by the then Bihar minister Lalit Yadav, has added a new twist to the episode by retracting his accusation.
Baitha, a resident of Nagari village in Bhojpur district, was the driver of a truck belonging to the former minister's brother. The truck was reportedly waylaid while crossing the Ganga bridge between Patna and Hajipur and hijacked.
Suspecting their involvement in the incident, Yadav 'punished' Baitha and the truck's cleaner Karu Ram. Both were allegedly beaten up and tortured by the minister and his aides.
Now, the alleged victims have turned hostile and denied before the Harijan Special Court last Friday that they were tortured.
Baitha denied before the court that he had ever given any statement to the police.
During cross-examination by public prosecutor Suresh Chandra Prasad, he denied that he was tortured but, significantly, also confessed that the perpetrators were 'unknown persons'.
On the other hand, Karu said that his earlier statement was not recorded in the court of a judicial magistrate as laid down under Section 164 of the Indian Penal Code, making it one of those few cases in which the victim had denied the veracity of court records.
His statement, which also bears his thumb impression, is available in court records, but he told the court that the thumb impression on the court papers was wrong.
Karu, however, admitted being confined, first at the house of Surendra Singh and then at the residence of Lalit Yadav. Surendra is Lalit's cousin.
Karu denied being tortured or beaten up or forced to drink urine or that his nail was extracted though he did admit that media reports and the initiative taken by the police resulted in him being rescued from the house of Lalit Yadav.
Baitha and Karu's volte face has angered their relatives and fellow villagers.
Baitha's family members, including his mother, have turned hostile towards him and alleged that the minister had bought his silence.
Baitha's younger brother alleged that he had changed his statement after receiving Rs 200,000.
His mother, Jeera Devi, said that two chamchas (yes-men) of Lalit Yadav, met Dinanath the night (on Thursday) before the deposition and bribed him.
She abused her son for bringing disgrace upon the village.
Baitha's friends also felt let down by his action and said that it had demoralised the Dalits in their fight against the tyranny of the upper castes.
Baitha refused to talk to newspersons.
The public prosecutor said that despite the denials, the case could be proved on the basis of the evidence of independent witnesses like the doctor who had treated the victims and police officials.
Dinanath and Karu were rescued from the official residence of Lalit Yadav, then the minister of state for labour, in Patna after some television channels highlighted the news of their illegal confinement and torture on July 8, 2000.
Lalit was expelled from the Rashtriya Janata Dal and sacked from the Rabri Devi ministry within hours after the news broke. After remaining at large for seven months, Yadav surrendered before the police in the first week of February.
The National Human Rights Commission had last January written to the state chief secretary and Director General of Police in this connection.
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