A Dalit associate professor, Dr. Neelam, in the Hindi department at Delhi University’s Lakshmibai College has filed a police complaint as well as with the principal as she was slapped by her colleague, Dr. Ranjeet Kaur, during a meeting.
Neelam said that Kaur has “always had an issue with me because of my caste.”
“We had been called for a department meeting, as a National Assessment and Accreditation Council team is scheduled to visit soon. At the end, she (Kaur) asked everyone to sign the minutes. She has a history of omitting things, so I told her I will not sign without going through it. She was in a hurry to go somewhere and would not allow it. I insisted, and suddenly she slapped me in front of everyone,” Neelam told Indian Express.
She has been targeted, humiliated, and slapped in public view in presence of a large number of the teaching staff of the college, alleged Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM).
“Such inhuman treatment was given to her due to the casteist mentality of the accused teacher who still considers members of scheduled caste as inferior to themselves,” said the Dalit rights group.
Dr. Neelam wanted to report the matter to local police and register FIR under the provision of the SC& ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, however, police officials didn’t register her case under relevant provisions of law and dictated a Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) for the same.
The police authorities have given assurance to file the complaint on Wednesday but the complaint hasn’t been registered yet.
