“If my children are guilty, shoot them dead. But if they turn out to be innocent, I want to be compensated for my loss of reputation,” said Rakesh Singh, father of 35-year-old Ram Kumar, one of the four men arrested for allegedly gang raping and killing a 19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras. The others are Sandeep Singh, Ravi Singh, and Luv Kush.

His sentiment is echoed by many residents of the Bul Garhi village who are convinced that the four men are being framed.

As it turns out, all four men belong to one large joint family consisting of about 30 members. They have a history of conflict with the family of the victim — a history that has seen an FIR being registered, two men getting jailed and being acquitted.

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According to a senior police officer who didn’t want to be identified, in 2001-02, the two families were involved in a property dispute. “It ended in the victim’s father suffering a head injury. An FIR under IPC sections of attempt to commit culpable homicide, of assault and under the SC/ST Act was registered,” said the police officer.

The murdered woman’s mother said that her family forgot all about it. “But the Thakurs did not forget.”

Rakesh Singh said that his family was wrongly targeted even in that 18-year-old case.

In the latest case too, Singh’s family insisted that the arrested men were innocent. “The dead woman’s family would borrow money from us and cut grass for their buffaloes from our fields, but now they want to frame us in another case,” said another relative who didn’t identify himself.

They claimed that one of the suspects, Ram Kumar, wasn’t even in the village at the time of the crime. “He works for a dairy firm and was on duty at that time,” said a third relative.

The atmosphere in the village, meanwhile, remained tense on Saturday even as the victim’s brother alleged that he has received threats from the Thakur community.

“I don’t know why they feel threatened by us, but if they feel threatened, they’ll continue to feel that all their life. The threat is not from us, it’s in their minds,” said Rakesh Singh.

Most villagers HT interacted with spoke out in support of the accused. Some offered alternative theories. But the woman, in her dying declaration, named the four suspects as her rapists and killers — something that outweighs conspiracy theories.

This village with about 450 voters has only half-a-dozen Dalit homes, even as Thakurs and Brahmins constitute about 80% of the population. “Our community has been maligned for no fault of our men,” said a local resident, Ravi Sharma.

Awanish K Awasthi, additional chief secretary, said that authorities have met local leaders to ensure there is peace in and around the village. “The village will continue to receive police security. Senior police officers have been given the responsibility to ensure peace.”

The few Dalit families of this village stayed indoors. “Once the police leave, it will only get tougher to survive as a minority here,” said a Dalit who didn’t want to be identified.