In #UttarPradesh‘s #Varanasi, a #Dalit student, resident of #Ahmedabad, #Gujarat, currently pursuing masters from #BHU, Varanasi was allegedly abused, assaulted and attempts of unnatural sex by pulling off his pant was made on him in the university hostel by two suspects on March… pic.twitter.com/kswRdrbbPP

— Hate Detector (@HateDetectors) April 1, 2024

On March 31, the written police complaint was filed at the Lanka Police Station in the said matter. As per the details of the incident provided in The Mooknayak, the said incident of physical and sexual abuse took place in Rajaram Hostel of BHU. The victim is enrolled in the MA course in Sociology.

The victim, while speaking to The Mooknayak, recounted the incident. He provided that the accused had forcefully grabbed him behind as there was a power outage in his room. As per the report, the victim stated “I am a student of MA Sociology. I hail from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. On Sunday night, around 02:45 a.m., there was a sudden power outage in one lobby of Rajaram Hostel, while the other lobby had electricity. I was studying in my room when suddenly the room plunged into darkness. Upon investigation, I found that the MCB had tripped. As I bent down to reset it, a student from the MPIMIR course grabbed me from behind.”

The victim further provided how he resisted the attempts made by the accused to remove the victim’s pants, as a result of which the accused smacked the victim’s head against the wall. Pursuant to the same, the victim fell. As per the victim, it was then that the accused tried to forcefully sodomize the victim. Upon facing resistance by the victim, the accused assaulted and abused him and even gave death threats.

“I somehow managed to escape, but he followed me into the room. He forcibly pulled down my pants while continuing to abuse me. When I resisted, he hit me with slaps and punches. He also snatched my phone and held me captive inside the room for an hour”, the victim stated while speaking to The Mooknayak.

Alerted by the cries of the victim, other students came to his rescue. Pursuant to the same, the hostel warden and the proctorial board were informed about the incident, as provided by the victim.

“The proctorial board team reached Rajaram Hostel and rescued me at 4 a.m. The warden and the proctorial board then took me to the trauma centre, where I received medical treatment.”

The victim has asserted that if adequate action is not taken in the said case, he will leave the campus. As per the report of The Mooknayak, the Victim provided that “I have filed a written complaint and am awaiting the filing of an FIR. If the FIR is not registered, I will leave the campus.”

Reaction of the police:

The police have assured that they will investigate the matter and take appropriate action. Speaking to The Mooknayak, Shivakant Mishra, the Station Officer of the Lanka police station, said, “This appears to be a case of physical assault. The police have interviewed the victim and other students at the hostel. The matter is under investigation.”

History of sexual violence cases at BHU:

In November of 2023, a case of alleged gang rape and sexual violence of a 20-year-old student was reported from the campus of Indian Institute of Technology- Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU). According to the complaint lodged by the victim on November 2, she was out with a friend on the IIT-BHU campus on the night of November 1 when the incident took place. The duo was near the Karman Baba temple when three men came there on a motorcycle and forcibly took her to a corner and gagged her after separating her from her friend. The three accused then stripped the victim, made a video of her and clicked photos. As per her complaint, she was let go after 15 minutes. The three accused took her phone number, the complaint stated. Based on the complaint, a FIR had been lodged. Later, on November 8, the survivor had recorded her statement before the magistrate and the police investigating officer, which resulted in charges pertaining to gang rape being added to the case. (For more details, read here and here) The survivor had also alleged that the incident had been carried out at gunpoint.

Notably, in January 2024, the state police had arrested the three accused. The three men arrested had been identified as Saksham Patel (aged 20) who had studied till class 10, Kunal Pandey (aged 28), who had studied till B. Com graduation course and ran a shop, and Abhishek Chauhan (aged 22), who failed his class 10 examination and worked at a saree shop. It is crucial to highlight here that at least two of the three men arrested are associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s IT cell in Varanasi.

In July 2023, two men were booked by the Varanasi police after a female student of BHU had alleged that she was sexually harassed and thrashed by a group of male students inside the BHU cyber library. As per her complaint, the group had also assaulted her on the route to the central library on the campus. As per the report of Times of India, in her complaint, the 28-year-student alleged that she was busy studying at the cyber library on Saturday afternoon when accused Saurabh Rai and his accomplices reached there and started misbehaving with her. Following this, she was forced to leave the library. As she left, Rai and his accomplices had chased her and subjected her to abuse. Notably, based on the complaint, the Lanka police had immediately lodged a FIR against the accused under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (outraging modesty of woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC.

Prior to this, a similar sexual harassment incident had also taken place at the IIT-BHU campus in 2017 also which had resulted in massive protests. In the said incident, notably, the Varanasi police had filed charges of arson and other crimes against 1,200 protesting BHU students. In September 2017, a BHU student of the Arts Faculty was allegedly harassed by three motorcycle-borne men inside the campus when she was returning to the Triveni Hostel. The student alleged that instead of raising the matter with university authorities, the hostel warden questioned her why she was returning so late. Hundreds of students sat on protest in the campus after this string of events in protest against lack of safety and alleged victim shaming. In reaction to the incident, the Vice Chancellor G C Tripathi had said “Boys will be boys. Forget about what happened. Why don’t you stop stepping out after 6 pm if you dislike such things? You are a girl, don’t try to become a boy (by stepping out after sunset).” Notably, the Varanasi police had filed charges of arson and other crimes against 1,200 protesting BHU students.

Not the first attack on Dalits in BHU:

In May 2023, a Dalit assistant professor at BHU had accused two other assistant professors and two students of assaulting, molesting and humiliating her. Notably, a first information report based on her complaint had been lodged in Varanasi on August 27, over three months after the incident allegedly occurred. The complainant had alleged that the police had filed a case only after she had written to the Human Resource and Development Ministry, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission, and the Chief Minister’s Office.

The complainant had provided then that a dispute had begun after she refused to remove a person from his post despite pressure from the accused persons. She alleged that the accused persons targeted her as she was a Dalit. According to the complaint, the accused persons “regularly talked about stripping her and making her do rounds of the university”. The assistant professor added that on May 22, one of the accused persons came to her chamber, threatened to have her removed from her post, and to kill her.

According to a report of Scroll, the police had filed a case under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. Notably, the accused had also been booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Educational institutes and the culture of caste discrimination:

Atrocities against Dalit students, as has been highlighted in the present case at educational institutions, is not an isolated incident. Dalits have been marginalized for thousands of years and continue to be discriminated against, humiliated, and killed for petty reasons. Even after protests are held after such atrocities against Dalits come to light, the scenario remains the same.

In the month of March 2024 itself, Dalit academician Dr. Ritu Singh, a former assistant professor at the university’s Daulat Ram College was abruptly terminated in 2020. Had expressed her resolution to bring forth the culture of caste discrimination prevailing in colleges and universities of India. As per Singh, her dismissal stemmed from caste-based discrimination, accusing college principal Savita Roy of targeting her due to her Dalit identity. It is essential to note that Singh’s against the castiest structures in higher education system and administration has been ongoing since the last six months.

In October of 2023, several student-led protests had broken out across universities in Uttar Pradesh after University of Allahabad proctor Rakesh Singh was caught in a video launching a violent attack on student Vivek Kumar, who is from a Dalit community. In the video that had gone viral on social media, the accused, Rakesh Singh, can be seen snatching a lathi from a policeman and hitting the student while he raises slogans against the proctor. Kumar could be seen trying to shield himself but Singh had continued to hit him. The accused had only stooped when the policemen had intervened. Former MA student and All India Student Association (AISA) unit president Vivek Kumar had alleged that the said attack had stemmed from a place of discrimination and bias towards marginalised communities.

The video can be viewed here:

इलाहाबाद यूनिवर्सिटी में दलित छात्र विवेक कुमार ने “जातिवादी चीफ़ प्रॉक्टर मुर्दाबाद” का नारा लगाया तो चीफ़ प्रॉक्टर “राकेश सिंह” बिफर पड़े और पुलिस और सुरक्षा कर्मियों के सामने दलित छात्र पर लाठियां भांज दी, वीडियो सोशल मीडिया पर वायरल है #UttarPradesh #allahabaduniversity… pic.twitter.com/IyyiNtB1EN

— Dalit Times | दलित टाइम्स (@DalitTime) October 18, 2023

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IIT-BHU gangrape: 3 accused arrested, at least 2 associated with BJP IT cell of Varanasi

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Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh: 5 Dalit children beaten with sticks, with hands tied behind their back, for drinking water from a well

The post Sexual assault at BHU: Dalit student alleged abuse, assault and attempts of forced sex against another student in hostel appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu

A struggle goes for Dalit dignity in the village of Thenmudiyanur, nestled within the Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu as higher caste Hindus boycott a temple after Dalits were begun to be allowed in it. According to Frontline Magazine, Dalits were long excluded from the local temple. However, after demands and political pressure from the CPI (M) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), the district administration granted access to the Dalits on January 30, 2023 the temple was closed. The temple’s priest, belonging to a backward caste, gave up his post. However, after a series of peace meetings, the temple reopened in August 2023, only to be boycotted by the higher caste community. A new temple has now been erected according to reports, where the higher caste Hindu communities are preparing to go to pray.

Bengaluru, Karnataka

In Karnataka’s Bengaluru, a Dalit professor named Ravi Bagi, has made allegations of caste discrimination against the National Education Society’s management following his transfer to a different college. Bagi, who is a teacher of Kannada has asserted that the institution’s management is being discriminatory against him and have reportedly “demoted” him even though for a year, he has been urging the college to furnish a letter supporting his PhD guideship to Bengaluru University. However, he has been transferred to teach pre-university students now, according to Hindustan Times.

The transfer has reportedly relocated Bagi from Basavanagudi National College, where he taught both undergraduate and postgraduate students, to Jayanagar National College where he will now be teaching pre-university students. According to the HT report, he has stated that he feels “marginalised”, “There have been no complaints regarding my competence or performance. Suddenly, the management has demoted me from teaching PG and UG to Pre University. I feel marginalised due to my Dalit identity.” 

Narauli, Uttar Pradesh

After the Republic Day function at Sardar Singh Inter College in Narauli town, two students reportedly assaulted and beat up a Dalit student who had finished his speech on Dr BR Ambedkar with the chant ‘Jai Bhim-Jai Bharat’. The victim has filed a complaint after which a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered by the police. The police have stated that they are actively investigating the matter. The FIR was filed at Baniya Ther police station and it includes charges under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with relevant sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The incident highlights the importance of addressing and preventing discrimination within educational institutions. 

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The post Temple abandoned by worshippers due to Dalit being allowed to enter appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The institute shockingly, failed to intervene. Even worse, the names of the signatory students who had signed the letter was made public. One masters’ student, who was among those instrumental in getting students together to sign the protest letter, has even been arrested!

It is a 23-year-old student belonging to a Dalit community from Latur district was arrested on January 22. This arrest took place after a senior student filed an FIR against him for putting out a status on WhatsApp against the frenzy created all around on the consecration day. In this post, the student took a critical view of the “celebration.” This was a copied post from another fellow student. In fact, many students had put out social media statuses in protest of the ongoing celebrations on the IIPS campus. However only this one student was singled out and arrested

Some students that The Wire spoke to say that the post was a mere excuse. “The said student would have become a target anyway. Many students and even the administration were not happy with the student and his friends’ endeavour of organising students against the Ram Mandir celebration,” said one of the students, who too had signed the letter sent to the director.

In the letter, the students have written: “IIPS is a multicultural campus annually organising various celebrations which includes Ganesh Chaturthi, Dussehra, Christmas, etc. which epitomises the promise of grooming a secular young generation who can contribute prosperity to a diversified nation-state like India. But the celebration of Ram temple consecration is a pure act of political agenda orchestrated by the various outfits, which can harm the secular sentiments of students while celebrating in an institute like IIPS, where such celebrations cannot be done.” In the letter, the students sought restrictions on celebrations on campus and said the celebration had the potential of “further deepening the divisions among student fraternity by spreading hate and fear”. The Wire has a copy of the letter.

 The letter was overlooked. But after the student’s arrest, those who had submitted the letter were even forced and bullied into writing an apology. Quite contrary to the concerns raised in the earlier letter, the students this time round were made to apologise for “hurting sentiments of those celebrating the Ram temple consecration.” Both the letters were addressed to the director.

Not only is such an arrest of a student from campus is unusual as normally, the police never enter the space without the institute administration’s permission. Instead of immediately criminalising the issue, whenever there is such a dispute between students, a complaint is made first with the institute before escalating it with the police. But here, the complainant from a second-year master’s student, went directly to Govandi police station. It was also entertained. The student was booked under Section 153 (A) and 295 (A) of the Indian Penal Code for “creating enmity between religion”.

The police in the remand application claimed that the student had offended “Hindu students with his WhatsApp post.” The student was arrested and kept in police custody for two days. On the third day as he was sent to Arthur Road central jail, a local court granted him bail.

The student is back on campus. The Wire even reached out to him for comment but he did not want to speak.

As an aftermath of the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony, students’ organisations like the Ambedkar Student Association (ASA) have been disbanded. A student, who was a part of the association, said that soon after the arrest, students dropped out and their WhatsApp group was deleted. “We are being targeted for our political understanding and assertion. Most of us come from poor family backgrounds and we don’t have the wherewithal to fight the right-wing forces. So, students just decided to dismantle the group,” a student who was earlier associated with the ASA said.

Apart from this institute, even the prestigious Film and Television Institute (FTII) saw violence break out over protests against the January 22 Ayodhya event. Though the issue there was some of the students wanting to show Anand Patwardhan’s documentary Ram ke Naam, here too goons from outside somehow got to know, were allowed inside the campus and in fact indulged in violence against FTII students.

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The post Mumbai: Student Arrested After Asking Admin to Curb Ram Temple Celebrations on Campus appeared first on SabrangIndia.

According to Manorama News, the notice issued by the Dean of Students’ Welfare, the notice has declared that Vysakh has been held “exclusively responsible for instigating unrest” and for “diminishing the prestige of the institute, both within its confines and in the public eye.” In addition to this, Vysakh is now barred from accessing the campus, including hostel premises without prior permission. The order further asserts that Vysakh has a history of transgressions, having received verbal warnings in the past for involvement in ‘undesirable activities conflicting with the student code of conduct’. The report by Manorama reveals that Vysakh was assaulted by a group that known as the Science and Spirituality Club. The incident of assault reportedly took place when Vysakh objected to the group’s depiction of a saffron map of India, featuring a bow and arrow, commonly associated with Lord Ram.

The NewsMinute spoke to the suspended student who refuted the administration saying that he had never faced disciplinary action prior to this incident and the administration could be saying so because he was part of a hunger strike last year protesting against an event attended by RSS leaders.

Student groups have condemned the incident, Maktoob Media reported that Fraternity Movement decried the incident and has stated that the institute is “not an RSS Shakha.”

Unrest and protest disruptions continue in the country. Last week, students in Pune’s prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) were attacked by a mob of outsiders who came and beat the student union members and vandalised property on the campus, including setting fire to objects, after students tried peaceful film screening of Anand Patwardhan acclaimed documentary on the Babri Masjid demolition called ‘Raam ke Naam’.

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The post NIT Calicut suspends Dalit student for poster saying “India not Rama Rajya” appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The report reveals a grim picture of discrimination, ranging from assigning menial chores. There are about 15 schools where Dalit students have to do tasks like cleaning toilets or are being segregated by caste in queues during lunchtime. Furthermore, these discriminatory practices go beyond making these students perform chores and extract their labour. There is a significant lack of Dalit students reported to have less access to extracurricular activities and avenues for their academic growth.

Over three months, approximately 250 volunteers from the TNUEF conducted a survey over 664 students across 441 schools within the state. This study took place at 321 government schools, 58 government-aided schools, and 62 private schools. The sample included 644 students from different grade levels, providing a nuanced analysis of caste-based discrimination at various stages of a student’s educational journey. The organisation has furthermore issued an alert regarding the encroachment of Hindutva and caste-based extremist ideologies within the student community.

Instances of caste-based oppression manifest in various forms, both overt and subtle. These include the unjust denial of hostel accommodation to Dalit students, educators probing into the caste identities of their students, disproportionately harsh penalties imposed on Dalit students for minor transgressions, and the exclusion of Dalit students from engaging in arts festivals, among numerous other discriminatory practices.

Furthermore, the survey reveals that one school situated in the urban enclave of Madurai district opted to withhold recognition for academic achievers in the higher secondary examinations. This decision was due to the fact that the top two performing students happened to be from the Dalit community. Students from the Dalit community also face more punishments than other students. There were also several incidents where Dalit students were subjected to slurs.

Violence based on caste between students was also reported in 25 schools across districts like Ramanathapuram, Cuddalore, Tiruvannamalai, Tenkasi, and Dindigul.

The report also highlights that caste identity is openly displayed in 33 schools. Students were wristbands, ‘dollar chains’’, handkerchiefs, bindis, threads and even stickers to display their caste within school. Teachers also do not seem to be spared where three schools, with two from Tiruvannamalai and one from Chennai, were identified as harbouring discriminatory practices among their teaching staff.

The TNUEF has submitted its finding to the Justice Chandru committee which is further preparing a report that aims to address caste related issues in students in educational institutes. The TNUEF has further called upon the Tamil Nadu government to release guidelines that would facilitate the teaching and learning of equality among students and promote social justice within educational institutions. Additionally, the organisation advocates for the establishment of counselling centres at the grassroots level to provide support to victims of discrimination and asked for the government to improve infrastructure at schools as well. The organisation has also further asked the government to ensure that a redressal mechanism for casteism also be instituted in these schools with the formation of committees with teachers, parents and students to address the issue. It has also asked teachers to undergo sensitisation programmes to equip them to deal with such issues and harbour a discrimination-free approach.

According to The NewsMinute, Samuvel Raja, TNUEF’s state general secretary, has told the government that if they don’t take proactive action the organisation will be forced to reveal the names of the schools where these instances were recorded.

In response to queries about the results of this survey, the school education department has reportedly stated that they are looking into mitigating these issues through various measures. A report by Times of India has claimed that the Justice Chandru report will be implemented through policy measures. Earlier in 2023, Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had designated retired Madras High Court Justice Chandru to head a committee which would be tasked with providing guidance to the government on strategies to eradicate caste and racial disparities among students within educational institutions. This initiative comes after the brutal incident from Nanguneri, in Tirunelveli district, which took place in August 2023 where a group of students from a higher, intermediate caste attacked two school children from the Dalit community. The recent survey of schools by the TNUEF has been submitted to this Justice Chandru committee which is currently looking into the issue of casteism in educational institutes. Groups in Tamil Nadu are rallying to bring about concrete changes in policy to mitigate caste violence against Dalits in the state. Founded in 2008, TNUEF has been actively engaging in advocating for rights of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes over the past 15 years. Throughout this period, the organisation has taken up various issues pertaining to marginalised castes and raised it to the government. Thus, the TNUEF had similarly in August, 2023 observed the dull and slow response to the subsidy schemes for ST and SC people, highlighting the need for robust monitoring mechanisms. Addressing this concern, the front had introduced a proposed legislation and unveiled a draft law titled ‘Tamil Nadu Scheduled Castes Special Component Scheme and Scheduled Tribes Sub-Plan Fund (Programme, Allocation, and Implementation) Act 2023.’

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The post Systemic Discrimination: Dalit students in Tamil Nadu endure abuses, segregated meals, and forced to clean toilets appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The family members of a 16-year-old Dalit boy have lodged a police complaint alleging that he experienced harassment based on his caste and was subjected to physical assault by students from an Other Backward Community (OBC) community.

The victim, whose name was V Vishnu Kumar, was an 11th-grade student at a government boy’s higher secondary school in Keeranur; he was from the Paraiyar community which is classified as a Scheduled Caste in the state and also reportedly belonged to an economically underprivileged family. The girl, whom he reportedly spoke to belonged to the Kallar community, attended another government school where Vishnu had completed his education up to class 10. Vishnu was friends with the girl even after he transferred to a different school for his further studies. However, the Kallar students were displeased by this association, and had previously also “warned” him against talking to his friend.

The victim’s mother, Uma has asserted that her son was assaulted due to their caste. While initially categorised as an unnatural death, the police have since revised the case to incorporate provisions under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

“The case came to me after being altered. We are conducting the investigation, questioning witnesses and cross verification is on-going. We will soon make arrests, so until then we do not want to reveal any information as it may affect the enquiry process,” an official has reportedly disclosed to the Hindustan Times.

According to The NewsMinute, the victim was on his way to school when he was physically assaulted and subjected to caste-based slurs. His assailant was furthermore identified as a fellow student belonging to the Kallar community, which is a dominant community. After the incident, deeply distressed, the student returned to his home and tragically took his own life a few hours later. The Kallar community comes under the De-notified Communities (DNC) within the Most Backward Class (MBC) category.

The Udayalipatti police have filed a case against the perpetrators, invoking several sections of the Indian Penal Code including 294(b) (engaging in obscene acts in or near a public place), 323 (inflicting voluntary harm), and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code. Additionally, they are charged under sections 3(1)(r) (intentional humiliation of a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe), 3(1)(s) (verbal abuse based on caste in public view), and 3(2)(va) (committing offences against a person or property with knowledge of their belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe) of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act.

Are caste atrocities becoming the norm in Tamil Nadu?

According to an article by Outlook India, caste violence in Tamil Nadu commonly arises not just between Brahmins and Dalits, but it also arises very often between Dalits and castes that occupy the ‘middle’ rank, mostly OBC caste. The Dalit communities in Tamil Nadu are reportedly relegated to segregated areas where they live in isolated pockets which are typically located away from the homes of the dominant castes. Thus these instances are not uncommon, Sabrang India recently covered the harrowing incident two young boys in Tirunelveli faced on October 30 when the two Dalit youths were subjected to a brutal attack during which their belongings were stolen and they were also urinated upon. The victims have asserted that the assaulters resorted to humiliation and greater violence after they learned that the victims were Dalits. In this case too, the attackers belonged to a dominant caste. The most recent development in the case is that along with other legal actions, the Goondas Act has been slapped on the six men who assaulted the two youth.

In January 2023, after a Christian Dalit boy committed suicide after he was beaten, following this his family continued to receive threats to their life. Recognising the grievous nature of the incidents and the vulnerable position families are in after they file complaints in response to being attacked, Citizens for Justice and Peace had written to the DGP of Villupuram in Tamil Nadu seeking protection for the family as well as action against the perpetrators.

Furthermore, according to The News Minute report, a fact finding report by a collective named Evidence suggests that about 103 instances of caste based violence against Dalits have taken place in in Pudukkottai district between November 2022 and August 2023; these instances take up about almost 10% of the total instances reported in the state. The collective has also stated that three districts, including Pudukkottai, Tirunelveli, and Thoothukudi have witnessed a huge number of caste based violence against Dalits, and thereby has demanded the government declare these as “atrocity prone zones”.

An essay by The Wire corroborates this statement, using National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB) data, the essay states that incidents of violence against Dalits in Tamil Nadu have been on the rise and between 2019 and 2021, reported cases of such violence in the state increased by nearly 20%, surpassing the national average increase rate of 9.7%. On November 4, an organisation named Dalit Intellectual Collective also asked Chief Minister Stalin to hold an all-party meeting to address the reported rise of ongoing hate crimes against Dalits.

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The post Another Dalit student dies by suicide after being attacked in Tamil Nadu, activists demand urgent action appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The data speaks clearly. According to the figures produced by the Union Education Ministry,  23 IITs (Institutes of Technology), 25 IIITs, 7 IISERs (Institutes of Science and Research, Technology), 20 IIMs (Institutes of Management), 32 NITs (Institutes of Technology)and 1 IISc (Institutes of Science). Out of these as many as 19 IITs, 14 IIITs, 7 IISER, 1 IISc, 20 IIMs and 26 NITs have SC/ST students’ cells. This accounts for 80 percent of all institutes. Yet a high 67 suicides were recorded in these institutes over the past years.

Dr Subhas Sarkar, the Minister of State for Education told the Lok Sabha on March 20 that out of the 108  Central Institutions of Higher Education, 87 have SC/ST Cells for assistance of students belonging to these communities. The remaining institutes, the Ministry states, have set up mechanisms such as Equal Opportunity Cell, Student Grievance Cell, Student Grievance Committee, Student Social Club, Liaison officers, Liaison Committee etc.

The question was put by S Venkatesan [CPI (Marxist)] who questioned about the reported suicides of students belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs)/Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Central Institutions of Higher education and how many of these institutes have SC/ST Cells.

Of the total deaths by suicide,  during the last five years, 33 suicide cases from IITs, 24 cases from NITs and 4 cases from IIMs have been reported from student belonging to the SC/ST community, said the Ministry.

According to the testimony given by the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) of IIT Bombay, it was a long struggle to get the IIT institutes to establish a SC/ST cell in the IITs. A struggle which had begun in September 2014, after Aniket Ambhore, a 22 year old fourth year B. Tech student of IIT Bombay, died from falling from a hostel building on the campus at IIT Bombay [13]. As per their narrative, it was due to their consistent struggles that a special cell was established in IITs. It took them 7 years to set up the SC/ST Cell on the campus. These SC/ST Students Cell are supposed to addresses academic and non-academic issues and complaints received from students belonging to the SC and ST birth categories, which could be scholarship issues, opportunity issues or any other guidance.

That there is a structural bias in operation appears more than clear.

In 2022, the APPSC had complained to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) that the head counsellor at the Student Wellness Centre (SWC) on the Mumbai campus had signed a public petition to end caste-based reservation and posted about it on social media. The Ministry told the House that the Head Counsellor was removed, and a new In-Charge for Student Wellness Centre has been appointed. “The institute has initiated the recruitment of one counsellor each from the SC and ST communities, so that students can approach them for their grievance,” the Ministry said.

The complete answer may be read here:

Related:

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IS CASTE NAME CALLING NOT AN OFFENCE UNDER THE SC/ST ACT?

IIT MUMBAI REPORT ON DARSHAN SOLANKI DEATH, CRUCIAL EVIDENCE OVERLOOKED

The post 67 suicides in central institutes of higher learning despite 80 % claiming SC/ST cells for “assistance” appeared first on SabrangIndia.

A Dalit MBBS intern working at the SGPC-run Sri Guru Ram Dass Institute of Medical Science and Research in Amritsar, Punjab allegedly died by suicide on March 9. It has been alleged by her family that she faced caste discrimination. Her mother, Kamlesh Rani has filed an FIR at the local police station in Vallah while alleging that her daughter, Pompesh, was subjected to discrimination and casteist slurs by her colleagues and two professors as well. The FIR has been filed against 10 people, including 4 students and the two professors.

Kamlesh has alleged that the accused used to threaten her daughter that they will not let her become a doctor. There were two complaints made to the Principal of the institute, but the same were never heeded and no action was taken.

The FIR has been registered under section 306 (abetment of suicide) of IPC and section 3 of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities Act).

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Investigations) Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar told The Tribune, “The family has lodged a complaint against several doctors among others and we are investigating their role. Whoever is found responsible for the incident during the probe will be arrested.”

Some persons have been detained, Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar told Sabrang India. He said it cannot be said they have been arrested and said it was too early to divulge their name and the number of persons who have been detained.

The guidelines and legal framework available for Dalit students has largely failed them. This is not only reflecting in the consistent number of suicides of Dalit and tribal students but also in the feeble manner in which these guidelines are implemented in these professional educational institutes. A detailed analysis of the failing guidelines put in place at educational institutions and the continuing culture of caste-based discrimination may be read here.

Interestingly, while the angle of caste discrimination has been denied by IIT-Bombay in the suicide of Dalit student, Darshan Solanki by the committee set up the college, a mental health survey carried out in June 2022 by the SC/ST Students’ Cell found that caste discrimination is a “central reason” for the mental health problems faced by reserved category students on campus. The survey also found that almost one-fourth of the SC/ST students who took part in the survey suffered from mental health problems while 7.5 percent of them faced “acute mental health problems and exhibited a tendency for self-harm”, reported Indian Express.

Related:

How long will Dalits and Adivasis students succumb to violent caste discrimination before effective measures are created?

Systematic Entrenched Caste Discrimination in IITs is depriving young students right to dignity and life: PUCL

Mumbai Dharna for Darshan Solanki makes calls for law against caste discrimination

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“Please give us poison at the time of admission itself instead of humiliating us like this” 
– Late Rohith Vemula in a letter to Vice Chancellor Appa Rao a month before he took his own life

On February 26, the Chief Justice of India, D Y Chandrachud, addressed the issue of ostracisation and harassment that a student belonging to the Dalit or Adivasi community faces in top institutions of India. He was speaking at the National Academy of Legal Studies. He said that he was disturbed by incidents of students from marginalised communities taking their lives in top institutions, and that there was a pattern in Dalit and Adivasi students dying by suicide that needs to be questioned.

The CJI had further said that the time had come to have a model of education that had empathy at its core rather than excellence. Talking about the suicides of a Dalit student at IIT Bombay, Darshan Solanki, and a tribal student at PG Anaesthesia in Kakatiya Medical College, he had said that these numbers are not just statistics, these are stories that embody centuries old struggles. The first step, he pointed out, is to acknowledge and recognise the problem.

This is neither the first time that a student belonging to the Dalit or Adivasi community has committed suicide due to systematic callousness failures, nor the first time that words of anguish over such an act have been uttered.

Educational institutions, especially institutions of higher learning, have been consistently identified as sites of caste-based discrimination and violence.[1]According to the report by the All India Survey of Higher Education in 2019-2020, students from among the Scheduled Castes (SCs) constitute only 14.7% and those from Scheduled Tribes (STs) 5.6% of all enrolments in higher education.[2] The gross enrolment ratio in higher education for SC students is 23.4% and that for ST students is 18.0%; where the national average in India is 27.1%.

Even though the Indian Constitution contains numerous safeguards and provisions for the protection of people belonging to marginalised communities, Dalits and Adivasis have continued to face discrimination and exclusion within universities and such higher learning institutes. The Constitution of India contains provisions promoting the rights and interests of the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), in the form of both Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles for State Policies (DPSP). In addition to this, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) contains sections that provide punishments for those who commit crimes against the SC/ST community. Special laws have been passed, such as the Protection of Civil Rights Act of 1955 and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 (amended in 2015), both of which prescribe harsher punishments for crimes against Dalits than the IPC. Special courts have been established in major states to expedite the trial of cases registered solely under these Acts. The SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, which was passed by Parliament in December 2015, made several critical changes. New offenses are added to the list. Among them are prohibitions on Dalits using common property resources, entering places of public worship, and entering educational institutions.

While these laws remain largely on paper, the reality is chilling. Dalit students face discrimination from the inception of their academic careers. While discrimination might be more visible at the university level than it is in primary schools, this, however begins these and happens on a daily basis. Students from Dalit communities who strive to enter the competitive educational system are squeezed out by systemic (and often, violent) caste-based discrimination. Daily caste prejudice that they then experience, drives some of the most exploited to commit suicide. Time and again these issues have been brought to the forefront, typically after a young person belonging to the Dalit or Adivasi community loses her or his life.

This struggle against institutional casteism is not new, and the existing constitutional and legal legislations, stated-above, have not been successful in fully protecting either Dalit and Adivasi students. Caste is embedded in the social and cultural construct of our universities. It is not simply just a law-and-order issue. There is a popular and commonly held misconception that universities are caste-neutral. Casteism in fact is structural and rooted however, manifest in how the institute itself, department heads, institution heads, or management conduct themselves and respond. Especially when it comes to the specific othering and discrimination faced by students from these sections Typically, the determinants of caste can be read through language, the “command over English”, submissiveness, articulation, mode of dress, and colour of the complexion. While most students overlook individual bigotry, others are driven to the brink by systemic ridicule. Most non-Dalits regard those belonging to the marginalised communities as sub-humans, and frequently verbally abuse, demean, and ostracise them.

Through this legal resource, we are going to scrutinise the guidelines and safeguards that have been put in place to protect and support the Dalit and Adivasi students, and analyse whether these guidelines have been at all successful in doing so.

History of Caste Discrimination in Higher Institutions: 2007 Thorat Committee Report

In 2007, the then prime-minister Manmohan Singh had set up the Thorat Committee following grave and widespread allegations of differential treatment and discrimination against students belonging to Dalit and Adivasi communities. This decision had come after the Dalit and Adivasi students complained of direct and subtle forms of discrimination that were painstakingly documented by the Committee.

The committee was headed by professor SK Thorat (chairperson), and consisted of Dr. K.M. Shyamprasadand Dr. R.K. Srivastava as members. It was set up with the objective of “enquiring into allegations of differential treatment of SC/ST students in the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMMS).”

In the 77 pages report, it was revealed that 76% of the students were asked about their caste directly or indirectly during evaluations, while 84% of the students claimed that their grades were affected owing to their caste. The report had further provided that students belonging to the marginalised communities were forced to live in isolation in hostel rooms, faced discrimination in the mess (where students ate their food), faced abuse and violence by dominant castes and external examiners that were invited for the viva (oral interviews) of SC/ST students. The report had also provided that SC/ST students experienced discrimination in various forms, from avoidance, contempt, non- cooperation, and discouragement and differential treatment by teachers towards these students.

A deeper analysis of the report can be read here.

Sixteen years have since this report was passed but the situation is only gotten worse. In 2019, while speaking the New India Express, Professor Sukhdeo Thorat had said that “Nearly 25-30 students in top educational institutes have died in the last decade or so but the subsequent governments have failed to take any concrete policy decision to end caste discrimination in educational institutes.”

Initiatives to prevent discrimination in Higher Education by the UGC

• In order to check discrimination and harassment of any section of students and to strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism, the University Grants Commission (Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2012 has been formulated. These regulations had intended to give effect in letter and spirit to the provisions of the Constitution and other statutory provisions and policies for prevention of discrimination on the grounds of caste and to safeguards the interests of the students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The regulations also sought to provide for advancement of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students through setting up of Equal Opportunity Cells in each Higher Educational Institution.

• The UGC had also approved the establishment of SC/ST Cells in various Universities with a view to safeguard the interests of SC/ST students.

• In order to make the universities/colleges more responsive to the needs and constraints of the disadvantaged social groups, the UGC is giving financial assistance to all eligible Colleges/Universities to establish Equal Opportunity Centres. The aim and objective of this Scheme is to oversee the effective implementation of policies and programmes for disadvantaged groups, to provide guidance and counselling with respect to academic, financial, social and other matters and to enhance the diversity within the campus.

• Other initiatives included provisions of Anti Discriminatory faculty advisors for SC/ST students who look into their problems and advise accordingly, appointment of Student Counsellors to address personal, academic, psychological and family related problems, providing sports and extra-curricular activities, setting up counselling centres, provision of anxiety helpline, and setting up disciplinary action committee to take urgent action in case of any complaints of reported ragging, discrimination based on caste, creed, religion and gender etc.[3]

As had been provided by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in a written reply in the Lok Sabha in the year 2019, the UGC has issued several instructions from time to time to all State Governments and Centrally Funded Education Institutions to curb discrimination of any kind in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)/Universities. 

In June 2019, UGC had advised all the Vice-Chancellor of all Universities to constitute a committee to look into the discrimination complaints received from the SC/ST/OBC Students/Teachers and non-teaching staff.[4]

In September 2020, had issued an advisory against caste-based discrimination in higher education institutions. It had asked institutions to look into such cases seriously to avoid discrimination against students from the historically marginalised Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC and ST) on grounds of their backgrounds.[5]

The UGC has issued a notice stating that the officials and faculty members of educational institutions should “desist from any act of discrimination against SC/ST students on grounds of their social origin”.

It had also urged the institutions to create a page on their website for lodging such complaints by SC, ST students and also place a complaint register in the registrar or principal office for the purpose. 

In February 2021, the UGC had asked all the higher educational institutions to ensure that no official and faculty members indulge in any form of caste discrimination against Schedule Caste (SC) and Schedule Tribe (ST) students. The Commission had also directed the institutions to develop a page on their website for lodging complaints of caste discrimination and to ensure prompt action against erring official and faculty members, re-iterating the direction they had issued in the previous year’s advisory note too. [6]

Furthermore, the UGC also sought the constitution of a committee to look into discrimination complaints received from the SC/ST/OBC students and teachers and non-teaching staff. It added that faculty members and officials of colleges/universities must be advised to be more sensitive while dealing with incidents of caste discrimination.

The circular is as follows:

Norms framed by AICTE to prohibit discriminatory incidents in technical institutions:

1. For protection against harassment and discrimination of Scheduled Castes in AICTE Approved Institutions, it is essential for all AICTE approved institutions to Establish Committee for SC/ ST (As per the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, No. 33 of 1989, dated 11.09.1989).

2. As per AICTE norms each (AICTE approved) Institution shall upload the number of complaints and grievances received and action taken on their Web site and update AICTB through the monthly online status report.

3. In case of receipt of any complaint(s) about an Institution, the same shall be processed by Public Grievance Redressal Cell (PGRC) of AICTE established to dispose of the complaint cases.

4. AICTE takes action against such institutions (AICTE Approved) for violation of AICTE norms as mentioned in Chapter VII of the Approval Process Handbook (APH) of year concerned and punishes them as appropriate.[7]

Are these Special Cells in Higher University actually working?

The Case of Indian Institute of Technology

According to Ministry of Education data, the IITs recorded 34 suicides from 2014 to 2021, with 18 from the SC and OBC communities losing their life.^[8] Dalit rights activist Anoop Kumar had stated in the 2011 documentary named ‘Death of Merit’ that a significant portion of those who committed suicide in the IITs between 2007 and 2011 were Dalits. ^[9]

A survey cited in the Economic & Political Weekly investigated how caste influenced students’ perceptions at IIT-Banaras Hindu University. Thirteen percent of students in the SC/ST category reported that their teachers’ attitudes toward them were hostile.^[10]When asked about the perceived academic ability of students in the SC/ST category, 61 percent of the respondents in the general category felt that it was ‘less than others’. In comparison, 46 percent of SC/ST category students also thought it was ‘less than others’. ^[11]

In the year 2020, a panel of IIT directors and some government officials had submitted a report to the Ministry of Education suggesting that IITs should be exempted from reservation in appointments as they are ‘institutes of national importance’.^[12]  They had further said that to preserve the ‘higher merit’ of these institutions, reservation policy shall be barred.  In a subtle way, this report had argued that candidates chosen through the reservation policy are unqualified, and thus may jeopardise the ‘efficiency’ criterion.

According to the testimony given by the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) of IIT Bombay, it was a long struggle to get the IIT institutes to establish a SC/ST cell in the IITs. A struggle which had begun in September 2014, after Aniket Ambhore, a 22 year old fourth year B. Tech student of IIT Bombay, died from falling from a hostel building on the campus at IIT Bombay.^[13]As per their narrative, it was due to their consistent struggles that a special cell was established in IITs. It took them 7 years to set up the SC/ST Cell on the campus. These SC/ST Students Cell are supposed to addresses academic and non-academic issues and complaints received from students belonging to the SC and ST birth categories, which could be scholarship issues, opportunity issues or any other guidance.

But the struggle had only just officially started. Even though many IITs have counselling and mental health services, they are only designed to meet the needs of Savarna (upper caste) students. Furthermore, these counsellors are not trained to understand the social realities of caste that affect students from SC/ST communities, making them ineffective in providing support and, at times, exacerbating students’ problems. Furthermore, IITs do not hire Dalit Bahujan Adivasi (DBA) mental health experts as counsellors, exacerbating the situation.

In 2022, the APPSC had complained to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) that the head counsellor at the Student Wellness Centre (SWC) on the Mumbai campus had signed a public petition to end caste-based reservation and posted about it on social media.[14] The students highlighted that this revelation significantly discouraged SC/ST students from visiting the SWC.  

The institute, responding to the NCST’s investigation, had said the counsellor had been warned about avoiding any such posts on social media and immediately asked to take down the post in question. It had added that the counsellor continued to work with the SC/ST Cell of the institute and the SWC. 

Pursuant to the latest case of suicide of the 18-year-old Darshan Solanki at IIT Bombay, prompted by the culture of hegemony and institutionalised caste discrimination, the NCST, one year after the filing of the complaint, took charge and asked the IIT-B as to why it had allowed a counsellor with “casteist sentiment” to continue working with the SC/ST Cell on campus. As the NCST panel continues its investigation into complaints of the institute lacking mental health support for SC/ST students, the institute has been defending charges that it was the alleged failure to create safe spaces for marginalised students led to the suicide on February 12. 

Thus, starting from the lack of care shown by the institutes, to the commissions put in place by the union to oversee the complaints filed against atrocities committed against the tribal communities, there is a certain level of indifference as well as failure to take appropriate steps for safeguarding the interest of the SC-ST community.

Other colleges

A perusal of the National Law University’s website shows that NLUs, considered the top colleges for studying law, do not have SC/ST Cells, but have equal opportunity cells. On surface, these cells have a similar description as the SC/ST cells and have been set up to ensure that every student is granted equal opportunity and are not discriminated against. Many other universities, such as the Delhi University, Punjab University, Mumbai University, etc. had a page on their website showing SC/ST Cells or Equal opportunity cells. The question that arises now is: if these cells are in place, in accordance to the UGC guidelines, then why are the students belonging to the SC/ST community still facing discrimination and humiliation, to the point that they are pushed to take their own lives?

A closer examination on the complaints registered by these cells and the quality of response needs an independent assessment and scrutiny.

Why are these guidelines not working?

The very composition of the SC/ST Cells creates a roadblock, It has been found that in the current structure, the SC/ST cells are being constituted with members belonging to the dominant castes, which decreases both the legitimacy and trust of the DBA students towards this corrective mechanism. As a result of this, people with only a superficial understanding of caste hegemony in education and academia are suddenly given the power to solve such issues that they are themselves responsible for, directly or indirectly, without having received any stringent educational sessions for the same. In fact for most persons from the dominant castes, systemic caste discrimination is barely superficially understood. This ends up creating a void, instead of a safe space for the students. It is essential to ensure that such safe spaces are actually created where one can question the structures rooted in ensuring that Dalit-Bahujan students experiencing a sense of isolation and otherness. It is equally critical to ensure independent and consistent monitoring of their functioning.

Additionally, it is crucial to note that these cells, both SC-ST Cells and Equal Opportunity Cells, are only advisory in nature. Hence, if a person belonging to the marginalised community is facing any type of discrimination, these cells do not have any power to take any punitive action. Furthermore, if the recommendations given by the aforementioned cells are not implemented or abided by, there is no mechanism or procedure to ensure compliance with recommendations. All these lacunae create a dependency of the SCST cell. The anti-ragging committees are again bodies which have largely only dominant caste members; most of the time these are not interested in taking any action over issues concerning students from marginalised communities. A major factor behind the inefficacy of the SC-ST cells is their composition, jurisdiction and lack of power.

Finally, even after having realised the criticality of having mental health counsellors for marginalised communities, SC-ST cells have no mandate to appoint such counselors from within these depressed communities (SC-ST). Only such sensitivity and diversity can help the students –through their time at university – to navigate a semi-hostile environment that privileges the elite.

Conclusion

In the case of BK Pavitra and others vs Union of India and others, Justice Chandrachud has observed that “The Constitution is a transformative document. The realisation of its transformative potential rests ultimately in its ability to breathe life and meaning into its abstract concepts. For, above all, the Constitution was intended by its draftspersons to be a significant instrument of bringing about social change in a caste-based feudal society witnessed by centuries of oppression of and discrimination against the marginalised.”

Whenever cases of suicides by students belonging to the Dalit and Adivasis community have been reported, many judges and top functionaries touch upon the topic of discrimination faced by the marginalised communities in educational institutions. Why then are no concrete changes brought in? In higher institutes, anti-ragging policies are put in place, but the same are just lip-service attempts by the authorities. It is worrisome to see that even after being aware about the caste prejudices that exist in our society and the way casteism works, educational institutes have refused to adopt special safeguards towards ensuring that students from the SC/ST community do not face any bias. It is a question of acknowledgement of deep rooted and structural discrimination by and through caste.

In institutions of higher education, caste-based violence and discrimination continues to be rampant due to the upper-class dominant-caste heteronormative structures in place. Barely a day had passed since the death of Darshan Solanki, even as people were protesting his death, Dharawath Preethi, a tribal student of PG Anaesthesia in Kakatiya Medical College (KMC), Hyderabad died by suicide allegedly due to harassment by a senior student. Previous instances of violence perpetuated by both classmates and teachers has led to instances of violence, which in extreme cases has led to students committing suicide, as was in the cases of RohithVemula, MuthukrishnanJeevantham and PayalTadvi.

All of these institutional murders were a result of the failure of the system to acknowledge the existing societal iniquitous structures. PayalTadvi was constantly humiliated and discriminated against by her peers because of her caste background. The above-mentioned Professor Thorat’s committee report, which had presented the findings of bias on the AIIMS campus much before her, had highlighted that those students had felt discriminated against because of their caste background and had been ostracised by teachers and professors for it. However, instead of acknowledging the report’s findings and implementing the recommendations, the institution dismissed the report. The recommendations have yet to be put into action.

A list of Dalit and Adivasi students that have died by suicide can be read here

The Rohith movement had begun with people demanding legislation to combat the dominant caste’s naturally discriminatory system of hegemony, in which the marginalised sections are regarded as malfunctioning, unworthy of belonging within dominant caste spaces. If India wants to correct this malaise, this poison of systemic discrimination, if we want to prevent more Vemulas and Solankis succumbing to the existing casteist structure, we have to also think outside the n the framework of the system.

Education is frequently referred to as the “magic bullet” for progress. It through acquiring education that the marginalised communities can be empowered, and the gaps between the classes –dominant and marginalized– can be decreased. However, as long as caste-based discrimination exists in educational institutions, this magic bullet will be ineffective. Several structural changes must be made in order for education to fully realise its transformative and liberating potential.

Education institutions must commit to “undoing the idea of merit as a random consequence of individual ability” in order to be inclusive. Staff and faculty must recognise that their social position influences their ability. Students and teachers should be made to acknowledge that centuries old Brahmanical hegemony continues to shape our perception of capability, and that it has more to do with denying communities opportunities for advancement than with individual talent.

Until there is a profound acknowledgement of this structural bias, it is crucial that existing legislations are put into active force and stricter guidelines are given to the universities to abide by for ensuring that no individual is discriminated against. The current mandates fall miserably short. Those commanding both acknowledgement and implementation are from the dominant castes and communities, ill-understanding the experiential realities of a person belonging to a caste minority.

Genuine equity, dignity within a democracy requires a somber understanding of the shadows and silences behind the obvious hurdles. For our young from among the Scheduled Castes and Tribes to feel empowered within institutes of higher learning, it is they and their representatives who must be in charge and control of spaces that make this happen.

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On the charge of allegedly forcing dalit students to clean toilets in the government school in Perundurai, near Erode, Tamil Nadu, the headmistress Geetha Rani has been suspended. However, the police are on the look out for her as she has absconded.

As has been claimed, six fourth-grade Dalit students in a government elementary school were allegedly forced to clean the toilet and the water tank with bleaching powder. After the horrible case was discovered, the school’s headmistress was suspended in accordance with the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The police have filed a case under the Juvenile Justice Act and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. According to the inquiry that was held, it was revealed that the six students were told to clean the two toilets, one used by teachers and the other by students. Following this, the education department ordered the headmistress to appear before it, but she reportedly absconded. The Tamil Nadu police have initiated a search and arrest operation for the Headmistress of the government school as she is absconding.  

FIR Filed by One of the Parents:

The incident was uncovered after one of the victim students in the school was admitted to the Perundurai government hospital. According to the police, the student was diagnosed with dengue. While trying to ascertain how he got the disease, the boy revealed to his parents that he was asked to bleach the toilets by the headmistress. According to police, the child developed a fever after cleaning the restroom, as mosquitoes reportedly bit him during the task he was forced to do on November 21, 2022.

The violation, the mother says, came to light after her son had contracted dengue and was hospitalised recently. “When I asked him how he got dengue, my son said he was bitten by mosquitos when he handled bleaching powder and cleaned the toilet daily”, she said, as reported by NDTV.

“Last week, a parent saw them coming out of the toilet with sticks and mugs. When asked, they said they cleaned the toilet, and that the headmistress asked them to do it. 40 children study in that class, and most of them are our scheduled caste children. She has asked only our children to do this,” she added, as reported by NDTV.

The children’s parents have filed a complaint with the police. A case has been registered under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, besides invoking the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

As per a complaint filed by Jayanthi, the mother of a class five student, the “HM Ms Geetha Rani singled out only scheduled caste children to clean the toilet,” NDTV reported. 

A similar incident was reported from Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur in December 2021 where during a visit to the Government High School in Iduvai village, Chief Educational Officer R Ramesh came across several Scheduled Caste (SC) students of classes 9 and 10 who alleged that they were beaten and made to clean toilets and water tanks, reported India Today.

Related:

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UP: Dalit Student In Auraiya Beaten to Death For Spelling Error, Booked

Uttar Pradesh: Teacher allegedly breaks Dalit girl’s hand

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