Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, whose family members were allegedly killed by non-Dalits in neighbouring Bhandara district, sparking off widespread protests in Vidarbha region, has declined a job offered to him by the Maharashtra government.
Bhotmange, who met Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh at Navargaon helipad, during the latter's visit to the village on Friday, however, demanded stringent action against the perpetrators of the crime.
"I don't want a government job but want the culprits to be hanged to death," he later told PTI.
The state government, in a communication late Thursday night, had offered Bhotmange the job of a watchman at a government-run boys' hostel in Bhandara disrict.
The order was signed by Deputy Secretary N N Bhadokar, which the district social welfare officer R D Aatram conveyed to Bhotmange.
Minister for Social Justice and Rehabilitation, Chandrakant Handole, who had visited the village on October 12, had assured to provide a job to Bhotmange on compassionate grounds.
Meanwhile, a division bench of the Bombay high court on Friday issued a show cause notice to Maharashtra government over the killing of four members of the Dalit family.
The bench, comprising Justice A J Rohi and C L Aangarkar, issued the notice on a public interest litigation filed by a city lawyer. The notice is returnable within three weeks.
