Eight arrested after UP Dalit teen assaulted by Thakur men, forced to lick feet

In Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli, a minor Dalit boy was assaulted brutally by Thakur men and made to lick the feet of one of the accused.

The police said the incident took place on 10 April and the arrests were made after a written complaint by the survivor of the caste-based violence.

A video shows the Dalit boy sitting on the ground with his hands on his ears. The Thakur men can be sitting on motorcycles, some of them laughing as the Dalit boy shakes in fear on the ground. One of the men asks the boy the spell the name ‘Thakur’ and also abuses him.

#Casteism A 10th standard Dalit student was made to lick foot of upper caste men in Jagatpura, Rae Bareilly. The boy has gone to the Caste Hindu men to ask remuneration of his mother who worked as labourer at their field…https://t.co/AhBiEtsyaapic.twitter.com/HBHvaJTBsR

— The Dalit Voice (@ambedkariteIND) April 18, 2022

Police arrested eight people after the video of the assault went viral on social media. The main accused is Hrithik Singh.

“The aggrieved student had given a complaint at the police station after which those who assaulted him have been booked by the UP police under relevant sections of the law. The same video is now viral on social media,” said Ashok Singh, a senior police official.

#Update The boy's father had died 10 years ago, his mother works as a laborer to educate her son and family, The family is very poor, they are scared.

Raibareli police have arrested six people including accused Hrithik Singh.#DalitLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/8rsEJhL9ZO

— The Dalit Voice (@ambedkariteIND) April 19, 2022

The survivor is a class 10 student and lives with his widowed mother and sisters.

“What happened to my brother, should not happen to anyone else. The accused should get the strictest possible punishment,” the boy’s sister said to NDTV.