Sanjeev Kumar, a Dalit youth and an egg-seller was faced casteist slurs and beaten brutally along with his family members including his elderly father and young daughter by the people associated with Hindu fringe group Bajrang Dal in Karma village of Rohtas district of Bihar on 7 June.
Sanjeev’s family who sells eggs, is now the only Dalit family in the locality. As usual Sanjeev was selling eggs in the when Harinivas Singh of the same village, who was intoxicated with alcohol, first ate eggs and when Sanjeev asked for money, he started beating him with sticks. During this time Sanjeev’s elderly father and young daughter, who came to the rescue, were also beaten brutally and that led to some serious injuries. It is alleged that Shanker Singh, Krishna Singh, Arvind Singh, Shankar Singh, Santosh Singh, Shashikant Kumar, Ravi Kumar and Ranjit Kumar and Harinivas along with other members of Bajrang dal also threatened them to kill.
When Sanjeev Kumar tried to lodge a complaint in the special SC-ST cell of Dehri-on-Sone, they refused to file the case against the culprits and he was told to come next day. The kin of Sanjeev accuses the police of supporting the Hindu fringe group and even alleged connection of police with the culprits.The family provided some old video clips of being beaten up by the same group. After frequent beating and harassment by the Bajrang Dal members, neither the villagers nor the police are coming up to help them and provide safety.
The family is very scared and fear for life after the series of incidents.
On 9 June, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekar Azad visited Sanjeev and his family members.
“Caste is not limited to discrimination only. It is a symbol of violence, oppression and barbarism. The vandalism and mistreatment of a SC family in Rohtas district of Bihar is the real picture of India. The victim’s family should not consider themselves alone. We are with them. Bhim Army team is going to meet the family of the victims,” Azad said.
Danish Mukhtar is a postgraduate student of Mass Communication from University of Hyderabad and he hails from Jharkhand.
