A Dalit boy was attacked and set afire by sprinkling petrol on his face by five upper-caste Hindu youths in Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh after the assailants accused the boy of stealing and consuming liquor that they had stocked. The boy denied the allegation.
In a horrific incident, one of the five accused drew petrol from the motorcycle, sprinkled it on the Dalit boy’s face and set him afire, said Additional Superintendent of Police M Devaprasad.
Before an apparent attempt to kill the boy, the quintet thrashed him with motorcycle wires.
A local journalist told Maktoob that the boy managed to free himself from the clutches of the attackers and went to a hospital in Mydukur where he was given first aid. Later, he was shifted to Kadapa RIMS by his parents.
The four assailants have been identified as Bandi Kishore, K Veera Raju, Pilli Kalyan and S Kiran. The fifth one is a minor.
Devaprasad said that they have been taken into custody for questioning and a case under the SC/ST Act and other sections of the IPC, has been registered against them.
“Everyday news”
While raising serious concerns about the saftey and security of lives of Dalits in the country, National Dalit Movement for Justice general secretary Adv Rahul Singh told Maktoob that there are news reports everyday about some form of abuse on the Dalit community.
“Since 2016, the key legislation act of SCs and STs is not being properly implemented in the country,” he alleged.
“The rate of crime against the Dalits and the tribals has increased by 7.3% and 26.5% respectively since 2019. Close to 46000 cases of crime against Dalits have been recorded and a total of 9000 cases of crime against tribal people have been recorded earlier in 2021,” Singh adds.
Singh also said that between 2009 to 2021, lakhs of cases against Dalits can be seen but only thousands were registered. Where as according to the special courts the investigation should be completed within a span of 60 days, there’s no proper registration and major police abuse against the Dalits can be witnessed, he said.
