LUCKNOW: In a shocking incident, a Class 10 boy belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SC) was assaulted and forced to lick the feet of a person allegedly from an upper caste in Rae Bareli district of central UP recently.
The incident, which took place on April 10, came to light when a video of the assault went viral on social media. Taking action in the case on the basis of the complaint submitted by the victim, the district police arrested seven people.
In the video, the victim is made to sit on the ground with his hands on his ears and the accused persons can be seen sitting on motorcycles. While some of the accused are seen laughing, the victim falls on the ground in shock and is seen shivering in fear. In the meantime, one of the accused persons asks the victim to spell out 'Thakur' while abusing him using a caste slur against him. The accused are even heard daring the victim to make the same mistake again.
As per sources, the victim was punished as he had gone to ask for the wages of his widowed mother who had worked in the fields of some of the accused. This enraged the attackers, who grabbed the boy, assaulted and abused him, making him lick the feet of one of the accused.
According to Ashok Singh, a senior district police officer, the victim had given a complaint at the police station after which those who assaulted him were booked under relevant sections of the IPC.
Confirming the incident, Rae Bareli SP Shlok Kumar said that besides the main accused who was sent to a juvenile home, six other accused were identified as Abhishek, Vikas Pasi, Mahendra Kumar, Ritik Singh, Aman Singh and Yash Pratap Major. All were arrested and sent to jail, said the SP adding that among the accused, Vikas Pasi belonged to the same caste as the victim.
Meanwhile, the local Unchahar MLA Manoj Pandey visited the victim and his mother on Monday and assured them of all help.