A Dalit farmer in Uttar Pradesh alleged he was forced to drink urine
Highlights
- A Dalit man in UP's Badaun says he was forced to drink urine
- Dalit man refused farmers who had asked him to harvest their wheat crop
- Four people have been booked, say police
A Dalit man in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun was allegedly beaten and forced to drink urine for refusing farmers, who told him to harvest their wheat crop on Sunday.
Sitaram Valmiki, who has a small farm, was harvesting his wheat crop when farmers of the 'upper caste' asked him to harvest their crops first. After Sitaram refused, they tied and dragged him "all the way to the village and thrashed him with sandals," he told news agency ANI. The farmers pulled out his moustache and forced him to drink urine, he alleged. Sitaram's wife went to the police after neighbours alerted her.
"This is related to the Valmiki Samaj. Two or three days ago we got a call from a man saying he was being beaten. We investigated but couldn't catch anyone," said Ashok Kumar, senior officer at the local police station. Later the police got another call, this time from a woman who alleged that her husband was badly beaten and "he couldn't get up." Necessary steps have been taken; no one has been arrested yet, said the police.
The police have booked four farmers - Vijay Singh, Vikram Singh, Sompal Singh and Pinku - for torturing the Dalit man.
A number of cases of atrocities against Dalits have been reported in April. On Sunday,
a Dalit man, on his way to his wedding was beaten up for riding a horse at a village in Rajasthan.
The groom's family alleged 'upper caste' people in the village pulled him down from the horse and beat him, and when the police tried to stop the villagers they were outnumbered. The mob forced the groom to return home. A case has been filed and seven people have been arrested, the police said.
Speaking on discrimination faced by Dalits and many of them converting to Buddhism,
Udit Raj, a BJP parliamentarian yesterday said "this is a dangerous situation...the reason is social injustice. Dalits are beaten up for even having a moustache.
I do not know what alternative they have."
Mr Raj is one of the first parliamentarians of the ruling party to alert the NDA government about the need to do more for Dalits. During the nationwide protests by Dalit groups, he had said people were being "tortured at a large scale" and named places in BJP-ruled Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh where, he insisted, false cases were being slapped against them.