Madhya Pradesh: After the Sidhi urination incident sparked massive outrage, another caste-related crime has emerged from Madhya Pradesh where a Dalit man has claimed he was smeared with human waste for mistakenly touching an upper caste man. The incident took place in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district and a case has been lodged against the accused Ramkripal Patel, who belongs to an OBC community. A police officer told PTI that a case has been registered against the accused under relevant provisions after the the victim, Dashrath Ahirwar, approached the police on Saturday.
Ahirwar claimed the incident occurred on Friday when he was constructing a drain for the panchayat in Bikaura village, about 35 km from the Chhatarpur district headquarters and Patel was bathing at a nearby hand pump.
Ahirwar claimed he touched Patel with the grease he was using in the construction work by mistake and “after that, Patel brought human faeces lying nearby in a mug he was using for bathing and smeared it on my body including head and face”, news agency PTI reported.
The man also claimed Patel abused him and hurled casteist slurs. “I reported the matter to the panchayat and called for a meeting. Instead, the panchayat imposed a fine of Rs 600 on me on Friday,” Ahirwar alleged.
When asked why he waited a day to file a complaint with the police, he said he could not have abandoned the work midway.
“A case has been registered against Ramkripal Patel under sections 294 (punishment for obscene acts or words in public) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,” Sub Divisional Officer of Police Manmohan Singh Baghel told PTI.
Baghel said when Ahirwar was working with others, they were joking with Patel who was bathing nearby.
“They were hurling things at each other playfully when Ahirwar put grease on Patel’s hand. Thereafter, Patel picked up human excreta with hand and threw it on Ahirwar’s back,” the police official said.
Ahirwar approached the police on Saturday with a complaint, Baghel said. Asked about Ahirwar’s claim on panchayat, Baghel said he did not have any information. The accused and the victim are in the age group of 40 to 45, according to police.
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