Dalit student Ganesh dies: serious allegations against police, family did not take the body for 10 days, Rahul Gandhi opens front!
Dalit community is angry over the suspicious death of Ganesh Valmiki, family accuses police of murder, Rahul Gandhi and Congress leaders express condolences.
Published on: 18 Jul 2025, 11:22 am
Hisar (Haryana): The deadlock over the suspicious death of 16-year-old Dalit student Ganesh Valmiki during police action in Hisar is expected to come to an end on Friday. The family, which refused to accept the body for 10 days and was protesting demanding justice, has now agreed to the last rites. The family is alleging that Ganesh died due to the police pushing him off the roof.
The issue hit the national headlines on Thursday when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the BJP government over it.
Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter in Hindi , “When power sits in the lap of Manuwadi thinking, the lives of Dalits have no value! The murder of a Dalit youth Ganesh Valmiki in Haryana’s Hisar and the brutality meted out to his family is not just a crime – it is the ugly face of the BJP-RSS Manuwadi system that considers the lives of Bahujans in India today cheap, and does not consider them worthy of equality and respect.”
After this, former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress Dalit leader Charanjit Singh Channi also reached Hisar and met the victim’s family. A day before this, senior Dalit leader of the party Kumari Shailaja also met the family and expressed support.
Although the Haryana government has already formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Social Justice Minister Krishna Bedi also met the family, the family continued to sit on a dharna outside the Hisar Civil Hospital, where Ganesh’s body is kept. On Monday, a large number of people from the Dalit community held a mahapanchayat and supported the family’s demands.
On Thursday, Haryana Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Krishan Bedi while speaking to the media claimed that an agreement has now been reached.
He said, “We are in constant touch with the family representatives. Today a meeting was held at the Chief Minister’s residence in which Ganesh’s father Vikram, uncle Dinesh and other people from the Dalit community participated. The matter has been resolved. We will go to Hisar on Friday morning and perform the last rites.”
Meanwhile, for the first time, the government had also issued a notice to the family under the Haryana Respectful Cremation Act, 2024 , according to which the administration can ensure timely and dignified cremation if the family refuses to accept the body.
What happened on the night of 7th July?
The incident dates back to the night of July 7, when the police received a complaint that loud music was being played on loudspeakers in the area even after 10 pm. According to the police, Ganesh and his friends were celebrating a birthday and when the police tried to stop them, they were attacked.
Police claim that Ganesh and his friend Akash then ran to the roof of a nearby house and jumped from there. Ganesh died on the spot, while Akash was injured. Police are now looking for 10-15 more youths who were allegedly involved in the attack on the police.
At the same time, Ganesh’s family alleges that the police pushed him off the roof, and they are demanding a murder case to be registered against the accused policemen. The police have also released some CCTV footage in their favor.
In one video, Ganesh is seen standing on his terrace at 9 pm. At 10:45 pm, he is seen lying on a cot on the road outside his house. At 10:55 pm, two youths arrive on a bike with a large loudspeaker and play loud music. At 11:32 pm, while a group of youths are dancing on the road, the police arrive. The youths can be seen attacking with sticks and pelting stones, forcing the policemen to take shelter in a nearby house.
Injured Akash has admitted in his statement to the police that they attacked the police and when the police chased them, both of them jumped from the roof to escape. During this, Ganesh died while he was injured.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) K.K. Rao said, “The police are ready for a polygraph test. We were just defending ourselves. People in the area had complained about the loud music.”
However, the entire incident has once again brought to the fore serious issues such as accountability of police action and alleged discrimination against the Dalit community. The demand for justice is now becoming not just of one family, but of the entire society.
