NEW DELHI: Atrocities against Dalits including untouchability, physical assault, mass violence and gender discrimination remain unabated amid the pandemic, according to a report by the National Dalit Movement for Justice.
There were multiple instances of murder, attempt to murder, attack on human rights defenders, police brutality, sexual violence with the coalition of Dalits documenting at least 100 such cases between April to June, pointed out the report Quest For Justice - 'status report on the implementation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act'.
The cases were recorded in Uttrakhand, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Maharashtra, among others, according to the report.
The report pointed out that the National Crime Record Bureau data shows atrocities against people of scheduled caste increased by 27.3 per cent in 2018 as compared to 2009. In case of scheduled tribes, there was an increase of 20.3 per cent in a span of 10 years, it said.
Dalit women bear brunt of discrimination and violence with crimes against women accounting for 20.40 per cent of the total crimes registered under the SC/ST (PoA) Act during 2014-2018, the report analysis said.
Human rights defenders continue to face challenges including physical abuses for challenging caste-based discrimination, the coalition said. 10 Indian states have identified 40 per cent of their districts as 'atrocity prone', the report said.
The government should proactively identify atrocity prone districts, the coalition suggested in its report.