Behind teen’s murder at Ludhiana Civil Hospital, ego clash between two youth groups, rivalry within SC community

Three days after a group of at least 15 assailants butchered a 15-year old boy Savan inside the emergency ward of the hospital, the probe has found that the reason behind the clash lied somewhere in the middle of two things — egos of two groups of youths and a brewing rivalry between two groups within Scheduled Caste (SC) community, Valmikis and Sansis.

While the victim was from the Sansi group, all accused booked in the case are Valmikis, both are the communities within Scheduled Caste and living together in the EWS Colony of Ludhiana.

According to Dr Gurmehar Kaur, who was on emergency duty in the ward, a group of youths badly assaulted Savan and he was then rushed to Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), but was declared dead on arrival.

Ludhiana police commissioner Kaustubh Sharma said: “Three cops led by ASI Rajinder Singh are posted at Civil Hospital police post none was on duty. An enquiry has been marked and action will be taken accordingly.”

Additional DCP-1 Rupinder Kaur Sra said that the victim and the accused were from different caste sub-groups which added to their rivalry. “They had several clashes earlier too. There are no particular reasons for such rivalries but just an effort to prove one is better than the other. It just escalated after the accused attacked the victim’s brother and later they even reached the hospital to attack him too,” added the officer.

Inspector Nardev Singh, SHO division number 2 police station said that houses of both communities– Valmikis and Sansis– are on the opposite sides in the EWS Colony. “But the reason for this crime was more of the ego clash between both groups who were young and in a sort of race to prove oneself better than the other,” said the SHO, adding that Sahil and Abhishek have been arrested while other accused are still on the run.

Surinder Kalyan, vice-chairman, Punjab Safai Karamchari Commission, said that both Valmiki and Sansi have been living peacefully in Punjab since the 1990s when Sansi were allotted a part of EWS colony to settle down. “This is probably the first such incident where we have seen Valmikis and Sansis coming at loggerheads, otherwise they have always lived in harmony. Both belong to the SC community. Sansis are natives of Rajasthan and work as labourers, sell liquor or do other small-time jobs. Valmikis mostly work as sweepers and sanitary workers. It was during the tenure of Beant Singh as Punjab CM when Sansis were allotted a part of EWS Colony in Ludhiana. This clash was mostly due to rivalry between two groups of youths. There is no such traditional caste-based rivalry between both both communities,” said Kalyan.

A cousin of the deceased said that “the opposite group were bullying Sansi community boys in the colony for months”. “Whenever someone from our side would roam in the street, they would abuse or slap us. They used to harass Savan and his brother too,” he said.

Dharminder Kumar, father of the victim said that four months back also, there was a minor clash between his sons and opposite group.

“Valmiki community living her considers themselves as superior because most of them work for Municipal Corporation as sweepers etc. Four months back also, children were playing gilli-danda together and there was a minor clash. I had even apologized on the behalf of my sons but they again started harassing us. But they kept it in heart and went after my son’s life. My son has been butchered mercilessly. He kept running to save himself but couldn’t. They just want Sansi community to leave this colony,” he said.

Rajvir, the brother-in-law of the victim on whose statement FIR has been registered, said that a few days ago, Savan’s father had approached the parents of one of the accused to discuss the matter and suggested that “children on both sides should be counselled.”

The incident prompted district Civil Surgeon Dr SP Singh to write to police, administration and state health director, demanding 24×7 security for doctors and staff on duty especially at night. “How is it possible that despite having a police post within the premises police failed to stop such an incident? We have been told that cops posted at the hospital chowki are mostly missing from duty. Such a chaos was created inside the ward that doctors were not even in the situation to treat that injured boy and he had to be rushed to CMCH. They have now deputed a PCR vehicle outside the emergency ward but hospitals cannot be allowed to become crime spots,” Singh said.

Dr Rohit Rampal, district vice president of Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association who wrote to civil surgeon demanding adequate security, said that the accused were wielding swords and the doctors and staff ran and hid to save themselves. “How can we expect doctors to give their 100 per cent if we can’t ensure their safety,” he asked.