The Uttar Pradesh policemen rained lathis on protesting Dalit women and shouted casteist and sexual abuses in Ambedkar Nagar district’s Jalalpur on Sunday, showed videos.
The police claim they used only “minor force” after the women started throwing stones at them and their vehicles.
The women were protesting over the vandalism of a statue of BR Ambedkar in the area.
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The protest happened after ink was thrown on Ambedkar’s statue by upper-caste Hindu men after that clash erupted in the area. Sunday evening, certain elements tried to take possession of a piece of land in Ambedkar Nagar, where Ambedkar’s statue stood. The Dalit men and women complained to the police that the Ambedekar statue was desecrated in the process.
They also put up a roadblock and stopped traffic in the area. The police tried to resume the traffic, but the women protestors started resisting.
Ambedkar Nagar police officer Ajit Kumar Sinha said, “During the chaos, some protestors also attacked and vandalised a police car. The police then had to use minor force to bring the situation under control.”
Many including SP leaders and Bhim Army Chandra Shekhar Aazad took to Twitter to register their anger over the incident.
According to superintendent of police, Ajit Sinha, two FIRs were lodged. The first one was lodged against those who allegedly defaced the statue of Ambedkar and second against those who allegedly attacked the police officials.
