Image: Times of India
In yet another reminder of how caste-based discrimination still exists in India, and is often deeply intertwined with gender-based discrimination, a group of so-called “upper caste” men beat up a Dalit family, because they dared to send their sixteen-year-old daughter to school.
According to The Week, the incident occurred on the evening of Saturday, July 23, in Bawaliakhedi village located in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh. The girl was stopped by four youths when she was on her way back from school. They reportedly asked her, “How dare you go to school, when no girl in our village is allowed to?” When the girl reached home and told her parents about the incident, they protested, but were beaten up by the “upper caste” men who belonged to the families of the youth who had stopped the girl.
The incident reportedly came to light when a video of the lathi-wielding men abusing the family, both, verbally and physically, went viral on social media. Times of India quoted excerpts from her FIR where she narrated the sequence of events from when she was stopped and asked about going to school: “When my cousin intervened, they beat him up. Around 15-20 minutes later, family members of the youths attacked my family.”
The Kotwali police then registered an FIR against seven people identified as Kundan Rajput, Dharmendra Singh, Sajan Singh, Man Singh, Makhan Singh, Ishwar Singh and Tufan Singh. But The Week reports that the accused also got a cross FIR registered against the family of the girl accusing them of assault. Shajapur Sub-Divisional Officer of Police Deepa Dodwe told the publication that there was a history of enmity between the two families over the use of a well. “The comment on the girl regarding her schooling led to a fresh altercation and clash on Saturday and cross FIRs have been filed. Members of both sides have been injured,” she said.
News 18 reported that an FIR was registered under various sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the IPC, and seven people were arrested on Monday July 25.
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