the Dalelchak-Bhagora massacre was precipitated by a conflict over hundreds of acres of disputed land between Yadavs and Rajputs; in the case of Nawada, the claimants were Koeri-Kurmi and Bhumihars. The Naxalite cadres, who were mobilising people from lower castes, were active since 1960s, when the first mass murders of upper caste landlords occurred under the leadership of Jagdish Mahto. The upper castes countered these forces with their private armies like Kuer Sena and Ranvir Sena, while landlords from backward castes did the same through Bhumi Sena and the Lorik Sena. Rape as a tool to establish caste supremacy The premiership of Rabri Devi reportedly saw rise in the incidents of rape, which in most of the cases was seen as the tool to establish caste supremacy upon the lower castes by the dominant caste groups, prevalent since post colonial period. Among those caste groups who were perpetrating such incidents were the Rajputs, Bhumihars and the Yadavs. In one of such incidents a girl was abducted and raped by a Rajput landlord who deserted her after repeatedly raping her for a month. When the victim tried to file a police report, she was subjected to custodial rape for two successive nights by the station in charge, Badri Singh and Deputy Superintendent of Police, Arvind Thakur. In another incident, a group of armed Yadav men fell upon a village, exploding crude bombs and burning the huts of the Dalits. The anguished villagers fled to save their lives while a woman was dragged out, beaten and consequently raped by the perpetrators. It was believed that political connection of the criminals was the reason behind inactivity of police in many of such cases. The assertion of caste supremacy through rapes was not a new phenomenon in the state. In the feudal society of post-colonial Bihar too, there are reports of Rajput landlords visiting the villages inhabited by Harijans and asking the men to send their wives and daughters to the Kothi to spend the night with the landlord. It was also reported through a senior police officer, which could be true for some parts of Bihar like Jehanabad, that a practice of making the husband of the Dalit woman lay below the cot where the landlord would rape her wife keeping his rifle besides her, prevailed. If there would be any sort of movement or the attempt to resist the rape, the landlord