New Delhi: Ten people, all belonging to the ‘upper’ castes, were booked in Karnataka’s Chikkaballapur district for tying up and physically assaulting a Dalit child on suspicion of him having committed theft.
The assault of the child took place on Thursday, September 29, in the village of Kempadenahalli, which is 80 km from Karnataka’s capital of Bengaluru, Indian Express has reported.
The child’s mother lodged a complaint with police saying that both she and her son had sustained injuries in the assault. In the course of allegedly apprehending the child for stealing a resident’s earrings, the villagers tied him to a pole and “beat him black and blue,” according to this family.
The News Minute has reported that the mother recounted the ‘upper’ caste accused having asked them “which caste” they belonged to. “[They] said that people of our caste shouldn’t live in their village and that we should all be killed,” the mother additionally said. The accused also screamed casteist slurs at them, she said, and said no one could stop them, even if police complaints were lodged.
One of the villagers shot a video of the thrashing, which was then shared several times online, drawing police’s attention to the case.
Indian Express has reported that cases have been lodged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and three sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act.
The child is undergoing treatment at a hospital, according to police.
Last month, a Dalit family from Karnataka’s Kolar district was fined Rs 60,000 after a 15-year-old boy allegedly touched a pole attached to an idol of a Hindu deity during a procession and village elders ruled that the idol had turned “impure” due to the touch of an “untouchable”.
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This article was first published on The Wire.