The Muzaffarnagar police have arrested Pawati Khurd village head Rajbir Pradhan for issuing a village-wide warning to persons belonging to a Scheduled Caste against approaching his fields or tubewell, threatening them with a penalty of ₹5,000 along with 50 kicks! The caste whose name cannot be revealed as it is often used as a casteist slur is traditionally associated with making and repairing footwear and other leather related work.

Chathawal police arrested Rajbir Pradhan on May 9, 2022, along with an associate for making the village-wide declaration that categorically discriminates against the particular caste group that has been historically oppressed. As per a video clip that went viral on social media, the Pradhan's medieval sounding warning is roughly translated as, “An announcement from Rajbir! If any Ch**ar crosses his field boundary, burial ground or tubewell, will suffer a fine of ₹5,000 along with 50 shoes!”

यूपी के ज़िला मुज़फ़्फ़रनगर के गाँव पावटी खुर्द में खुलेआम मुनादी हो रही है कि "कोई भी 'चमार' उसकी डोल,समाधि,ट्यूबवेल पर दिख गया तो 5 हजार रुपए जुर्माना और 50 जूते होंगे! हिंदू बनने का जिनको शौक़ चढ़ा था, उन्हें अब समझ आ गया होगा। वैसे इनकी गलतफहमी दूर करने मैं जल्द पावटी जाऊंगा। pic.twitter.com/tYqdVYJ9Tk

— Chandra Shekhar Aazad (@BhimArmyChief) May 9, 2022

Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad shared the video and said in Hindi that he will be visiting the area where this message was given. Rajbir Pradhan is the father of Vikrant alias Vicky Tyagi, who was murdered in February 2015 during his court appearance.

According to Senior Superintendent Abhishek Yadav, Chathawal police arrested the village head for threatening the SC community and trying to spread caste-based violence under relevant sections of the SC/ST Act.

पावटी खुर्द गांव, थाना चरथावल, के प्रकरण में गंभीर धाराओं में अभियोग पंजीकृत कर गिरफ्तारी करी गई है। संबंधित प्रकरण में वरिष्ठ पुलिस अधीक्षक मुजफ्फरनगर की बाइट pic.twitter.com/kIzEu9s2p2

— MUZAFFARNAGAR POLICE (@muzafarnagarpol) May 9, 2022

Unfortunately, caste-based crimes in Uttar Pradesh are rather common. Earlier today, SabrangIndia reported two cases of violence and sexual assault against a Dalit woman and girl respectively that took place over the span of just over a week. In both cases, the perpetrators included local police. However, authorities took action against officials only in the latter case.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) crime head-wise cases revealed that simple hurt with 32.9 percent (16,543 cases) incidents formed the largest chunk of cases of crimes against SCs during 2020. It was followed by 4,273 cases under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and 3,788 cases under Criminal Intimidation.

Under the SC/ST Act, as many as 4,212 cases were registered in 2018, and 4,144 cases were registered in 2019. In 2020, as many as 4,242 cases were registered. Throughout these years the crime rate has remained at 2.1 percent.

Related:

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