In Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur district, a scuffle broke out over a small dispute over the passage of water from a Dalit’s house towards a Muslim neighbour. We talk and read a lot about Bheem-Meem unity, but the myth keeps breaking every other day. In the recent incident, the attackers not only thrashed the men but also dragged a pregnant woman and kicked her stomach. A case has been registered against the perpetrators.
How did the scuffle broke out?
As per the Majholi police station in-charge Abhilash Mishra, Yunis Khan, and Rahul Choudhary are neighbours. To lay the pipeline for the Nal Jal scheme, workers have to dig the ground. Due to the digging, the sewage is blocked in the area. As a result, with a small rain, the drain water from Rahul’s house gushed into Khan’s house. This pissed him off, and on July 26, he started arguing with Rahul.
Kicked a pregnant woman
Yunis barged into Rahul’s house and started arguing with him. With the argument turning sour, he dragged him out of his house. Soon, Yunis was joined by his sons, Nehal, Rizwan, and Niyaz joined him. They were all equipped with sticks.
To protect Rahul, his mother Beena Bai, wife Ambar and sister Puja came out. Yunis and his family did not stop attacking Rahul and started beat the women as well. Rizwan and Niyaz attacked Ambar, who is pregnant, and pushed her to the ground, later they kicked her on the stomach.
In pain, Ambar screamed, and the whole neighbourhood assembled.
Police registered a case under the SC ST Act
Following the incident, Rahul called the police and then a case under the Prevention of Atrocities Act or the SC-ST Act was registered. Rahul told the police, how Yunis and his family targeted him and his pregnant wife.
Additional Superintendent of Police Shivesh Singh Baghel told the media that the police have registered a case against as many as four accused and they are investigating the matter.
Madhya Pradesh police is actively curbing cases of atrocities against Dalits
The Shivpuri Case
On July 4, a video from the hill town of Madhya Pradesh, Shivpuri started making rounds of the internet. In the said video, bearded men with skull caps were seen abusing Dalits for allegedly molesting a woman in the area. These attackers crossed all the limits by painting the faces of these men black, putting shoe garlands around their necks and making them eat filth.
In order to teach a lesson to the abusers, the villagers first attacked them and then decided to carry out a march around the village. For the march, the attackers first painted their faces black and then put a garland of shoes around their necks.
Taking action against the accused, the police arrested as many as seven of them and even demolished the illegal property of the accused.
According to Shivpuri Superintendent of Police (SP) Raghuvansh Singh Bhadoria, the action against the family came on the directions of state home minister Narottam Mishra, who has also ordered invocation of the National Security Act (NSA) in the case.
“The two men, aged 23 and 24, would reportedly talk to a woman (26) from the accused’s family over the phone. When the family came to know about this, they asked the woman to call the two men to their house in Varkhadi village. When the two arrived on June 30, the family thrashed them brutally. The accused blackened their faces and allegedly forced them to eat human excreta. They also garlanded them with shoes and paraded them in the village,” Bhadoria said.
Police said a case was registered against the family under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 294 (using obscene language), 506 (criminal intimidation), 328 (causing hurt by poison), 342 (wrongful confinement), 147 (rioting), 355 (assault to dishonour a person) and 270 (malignant act) of Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Viral Urination Case
This month only, a video was in circulation where a man was seen urinating on the face of another man. The accused has been identified as Pravesh Shukla and the victim as Dashmat Rawat. The incident was reported from the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh.
The accused man was arrested by the MP police, on July 5 and was booked under the stringent NSA (National Security Act). One-third of his house, build over illegal land was demolished by the district administration.
Notably, the Chief Minister of the state Shivraj Singh Chouhan took cognizance of the matter from social media platforms and responded immediately. Posts from his handle related to the inhumane act were coming subsequently. On July 5, Chouhan informed that he is deeply saddened by the act and hence called Dashmat Rawat to his residence.
Chouhan wrote on Twitter, “Ever since I saw the video of Sidhi’s incident, my heart is deeply disturbed and filled with pain. Since then I wanted to meet Dashmat ji and share his sorrow and also wanted to assure him that he would get justice. I will meet him and his family tomorrow at his residence in Bhopal and express my condolences to the family.”
Today (July 6), visuals of Chouhan washing the feet of Rawat, and extending his gratitude by offering a shawl and coconut were shared on social media.
Sharing a video and pictures from the day, Chouhan wrote, “My heart is deeply saddened; Dashmat ji, this is an attempt to share your pain, I also apologize to you, for me the public is God!”
