In August 2004, about 200 women from a slum in Nagpur, India, stormed a district court and stabbed a gangster to death. The victim, Akku Yadav, was a 32-year-old extortionist and rapist who had terrorised the Kasturba Nagar slum for years. He was stabbed approximately 70 times, and his ears and penis were sliced off. Police and court officials fled as the women, armed with stones, kitchen knives, and chilli powder, carried out the killing.
For years, Indian police claimed the murder was the result of a criminal feud. However, a new Netflix documentary series, 'Indian Predator: Murder in a Courtroom', delves deeper into the case, exploring themes of caste, violence against women, and public corruption. The series, released in October, features interviews with residents of Kasturba Nagar and shows how Yadav raped and killed women—mainly lower-caste Dalits—with impunity.
Yadav, born Bharat Kalicharan, began as a petty thief and escalated to serious crimes, including extortion, murder, and rape. He dragged women out of their homes, assaulted them, and gang-raped them with associates, not sparing children or pregnant women. Activist Bhaganbai Meshram recalled one brutal attack on a friend's pregnant daughter, who was gang-raped by Yadav and his associates at seven months pregnant.
The killing occurred after Yadav threatened a woman who had filed a police complaint against him. An angry mob formed outside his door, and police took him into custody. When word spread that he might receive bail at a hearing in Nagpur district court, women from the slum, and allegedly some men, killed him in the courtroom.
Director Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni said making the documentary was challenging due to inconsistencies in accounts and the refusal of Yadav's family to speak on camera. Some have theorised that Yadav was murdered by a rival gang using the women as cover, but a fact-finding team's report stated the murder was neither the result of caste conflict, a gang war, nor the work of any extremist political organisation.
Gender researcher Cynthia Stephen noted a reluctance to admit that women from a marginalised community would rebel to deliver justice the system denied them. The documentary has been praised for avoiding glorification of violence and for giving voice to survivors, highlighting the stark reality of slum life in India.
