“Nyaya abhi bhi adhoora hain. Ham chahte hain ki hamari taraf samaj ka naziriye bhee badle” [We are still waiting for justice. But we also want society’s attitudes towards us to change]. Nearly two months after the incident that sparked a Dalit uprising, 26-year-old Vashram Sarvaiya doesn’t sound bitter anymore. Vashram is one of the seven members of a Dalit family, of Mota Samadhiyala village in Una taluka of Gujarat, who was flogged by cow vigilantes on July 11 this year. The video of this horrific incident went viral and made #ChaloUna a war cry for the Dalit rights movement.

Since then, the Sarvaiya family has been surviving on the help offered to them by the community. “The last two months have been very tough for us. We have not earned a single rupee as we are still reeling under the trauma,” Balu Sarvaiya, Vashram’s father, told Newslaundry. “I was hit badly on my liver, I can’t walk straight,” Ramesh, Vashram’s 23-year-old brother, told Newslaundry.

One of the injuries Vashram sustained are in his eardrums, so he strains to listen now. Speaking to Newslaundry, Vashram expressed some hope for justice after Gujarat Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed its chargesheet in the case on September 7. “Chargesheet mein takriban woh saari baatien hain jo ham shuru se keh rahe hain [The chargesheet contains almost all the facts that we have been stating since the beginning],” he said.

The Gujarat CID’s chargesheet squarely blames the police for laxity and misrepresentation of facts in the Una Dalit flogging case. It categorically states that the police turned a case of skinning of a dead cow by Dalits into a case of “beef being found.”

“At around 6.30-7.00 am we got a call from neighbouring Bediya village from our uncle,” Balu Sarvaiya, Vashram’s father, told Newslaundry. “He told us that a lioness has killed a cow belonging to Naja Shyora. Skinning dead cows is our traditional family profession and that is why we chose to collect the dead cow carcass from Bediya village.”

Newslaundry also spoke to Naja Shorya, whose cow had been mauled by a lioness and who had called the Sarvaiyas. “I have recorded my statement with the CID,” corroborating Balu and Vashram’s telling of the events. “I have told them that my cow had gone missing on July 10. Later, I learnt that it was killed by a lioness,” he said. Newslaundry has learnt that in the chargesheet, the CID has mentioned that Shorya was forced to state that his cow went missing and not to mention that it was killed by a lioness. This, he said, was done at the behest of the former police inspector of the Una police station. “I told the CID that I was asked to sign a paper on a statement that I never gave,” Shorya said.

The parts of the CID chargesheet in possession of Newslaundry put the police system to shame. According to it, when the Dalits were flogged in front of huge gathering of villagers, calls were made by some villagers to Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar state police control room, complaining about the incident. The call from Ahmedabad state police control was directed to Sanakhada outpost nearest of Mota Samadhiyala village. However, the then outpost in-charge Kanchan Parmar, instead of rescuing the Sarvaiya boys, actually chatted with the gau rakshaks and ignored the injured Dalits.

“We were severely beaten by people claiming to be gau rakshaks. Then we were shoved into a jeep and were taken to Una police station,” Ramesh Sarvaiya told Newslaundry. Ramesh said while they were being taken to Una, a police-control-van stopped in front of their jeep. “We thought we would be rescued by the senior officer, but they rather joked and exchanged pleasantries with the ‘gau-rakshaks’,” he said.

Similarly, a call made to Gandhinagar state control room was diverted to Una police station officer. It reported that some youths were being beaten up. However, the local police took more than four hours to act on the complaint, according to CID’s chargesheet.

Newslaundry called the Gandhinagar state control room to find out what unfolded on July 11, but Sub Inspector (SI) KR Saxena, in the control room, said he did not have any recollection of receiving a call asking for help from Una on July 11. Moreover, the control room does not keep records, Saxena revealed, which meant that it isn’t possible to prove whether the control room received a call from Una that day. If someone did call from Una, normal protocol would have been followed, according to Saxena. “We have to note down the callers details,” he said. “Then we ask where the caller’s location is and based on that we ask them to contact the nearest police station so that help can reach quickly. Also, we notify the district control room to talk to the caller.” What part of the protocol was followed that day remains unclear.

 There was even an effort to pin a false charge upon the Sarvaiyas. Newslaundry has learnt that the Una police station house officer (SHO) in his report added a line that “cow meat was found” to tilt the case in favour of gau rakshaks. “This was done to make a case against Balu Sarvaiya’s family,” Dipender Yadav, special public prosecutor in this case, told Newslaundry.

Yadav said if the police had acted responsibly, they could have arrested the guilty vigilantes on the spot, when Balu’s sons were brought to Una police station, tied with rope. The CID has also mentioned in its chargesheet that Balu was left bleeding (after being beaten) where the incident took place. The reason for this, if Yadav is to be believed, is shocking in its callousness. “The accused left Balu as they didn’t want to soil the sheets of the vehicle with blood.” Yadav told Newslaundry.

The video of the flogging is an important part of the investigation. The chargesheet says, “The circulation of the video resulted in 74 incidents of rioting causing the death of one policeman…23 suicide attempts of which one died.” “We have compiled all these details in the chargesheet submitted to the Una court, now the matter lies with the court,” Inspector General of Police, CID, Shashikant Trivedi told Newslaundry.

The CID has arrested 43 accused in this case so far including then Una police station inspector Nirmalsinh Jhala; Sub-inspector N D Pandey; Assistant sub-inspector Kanchanben Parmar, and head constable Kanjibhai Chudasama.

Brajesh Kumar Jha, Inspector General of Police, Junagadh Range, refused to comment on the allegations of Gujarat CID when contacted by Newslaundry, saying that he was attending training in Delhi. Also unavailable for comment was Kirit Pandya, station officer (SO), Gandhinagar police station.

If the video of the incident offered a sickening insight into the caste-based prejudice that persists in India, then the way the Sarvaiyas suffered in the hands of the police is a searing reminder that for many, the police are not guardians. Instead, they’re part of the problem – and this is of critical importance because it is the police that is entrusted with upholding the laws that are meant to guarantee people like Balu, Vashram and Ramesh their security. The CID chargesheet makes it clear that the police thought the Sarvaiyas could be mistreated because they don’t occupy positions of privilege either economically or socially. They’re poor, discriminated against and therefore vulnerable. If those who are meant to be protectors will gang up with those violating both human decency and the law, then to whom does the everyman turn?