After a day-long protest with the slain priest Babulal Vaishnav’s dead body, his family finally performed his last rites after two days on Saturday when the Rajasthan Government assured it of Rs 10 lakh financial assistance, a Government job and a house under PM Awas Yojana.
Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, BJP MP Kirori Lal Meena announced that the aggrieved family has ended the protest and agreed to cremate his body after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh, job for a family member and a house under the PM Awas Yojana. The local SHO was transferred from the area, he added.
Earlier, the family had refused to perform the last rites of the victim priest until their demands of Rs 50 lakh and a Government job for a family member were met by the Rajasthan Government.
It had refused Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Om Prakash Meena’s request to the family to perform the last rites. The priest’s death had created national outrage.
Earlier in the day, Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra spoke to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot about the situation as thousands of villagers protested in Rajasthan’s Bukna village in Karauli against the brutal murder.
After the family refused to perform last rites, the Rajasthan government approached the family and announced that it would give the monetary compensation, a house, a job on contract to one of the family members and an assurance that all the absconding accused will be arrested at the earliest. The Government also transferred the police station in-charge of the area.
BJP MP Meena, who met the aggrieved family in Bukna, sat on dharna with protesting family members, said the decision was taken after an 11-member delegation from the State Government held talks with the family members, who had earlier refused to perform the priest’s last rites, demanding arrest of the guilty and compensation from the Government. A three-member committee constituted by the BJP also reached the village to prepare a factual report on the incident.
Vaishnav’s hut in Bukna village in Karauli district was set on fire on Wednesday after he stopped five men who were seeking to encroach lands which were part of the temple where he worked as a priest. In his dying testimony, Vaishnav named six people.