Congress’ MLA from Bari in Rajasthan’s Dholpur, Girraj Singh Malinga, who was accused to assaulting a Dalit engineer, joined BJP.
Harshadipati Valmiki, a 28-year-old Assistant Engineer with the power department, was assaulted by MLA Malinga for allegedly disrupting power supply to a ‘Thakur’ village.
While sharing the ordeal, Valmiki said to The Quint: “I was in a meeting with some senior officials when the MLA, along with a few others barged into my cabin. There was a sudden, awkward silence. He leaned against a chair, picked it up and said…teri itni himmat ki tu thakuron ke gaon ke connection katega? (how dare you cut the power supply of a Thakur village). Then, he threw that chair at my face and his men started beating me up with sticks, bats, rods, and whatever else they could find. They broke every bone in my body and hit me just as much as anybody could hit anyone. And then, they left me to die.”
According to the news website, the Dalit engineer suffered 22 fractures in the incident and had spent 580 days seeking treatment in Jaipur’s Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital.
Malinga is a three-time legislator from Dholpur’s Bari constituency.
An FIR was registered in connection with the case on 29 March 2022 and a local court in Dholpur ordered that the MLA be sent to judicial custody. Malinga, however, tested positive for coronavirus and was kept at a hospital. Within a week of his arrest, he was granted bail by the High Court.
No chargesheet had been filed in connection with the case.
