A farmer and his wife were beaten up by the police in Guna district, Madhya Pradesh.

The farmer couple was brutally assaulted by the police after they attempted to stop revenue officers from destroying their crops.

The farmer couple was brutally assaulted by the police after they attempted to stop revenue officers from destroying their crops. On July 15, 2020, a video of police officers brutally assaulting a man with batons in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district went viral on social media. The incident happened when the police reached the Jagatpur Chak area of Guna district, where Ramkumar Ahirwar and his wife Savitri Devi lived and cultivated crops for many years. The state government said 20 bighas of public land had been set aside for building a college. The property was allegedly encroached on by Ramkumar Ahirwar and his family. Local media reports stated that multiple attempts had been made to get the land vacated.

According to the district administration, around 45 bighas of land have been grabbed by a local gangster, who already owns 80 bighas of land and a big house. The Dalit family was pushed to the forefront by the gangster and his men to stall the eviction. Ahirwar had paid the gangster Rs 3 lakh for the land.

On July 14, 2020, a team from the state revenue department, accompanied by cops, visited the land to evict the couple and prepare it for constructing a boundary wall. The crops of the Dalit couple were bulldozed over by the police and the revenue department officials. The video also showed the police abusing and pushing away the children of the couple. The couple attempted to stop the officers from destroying their crops, but when they did not stop, they drank pesticide in an attempt to kill themselves as they have a debt of Rs 3 lakh. Their condition is said to be stable.