Now, a teenage Dalit boy was reportedly assaulted, forced to drink urine and his eyebrows shaved by casteist elements at his village under Sujanganj police station in Uttar Pradesh, Nov 23, 2023.
The police sent the victim for medical examination and registered an FIR on Friday, Nov 24.
The assailants, reportedly two persons, have filed a counter-complaint with the police claiming that the boy sexually harassed a girl in their family.
A report quoting IANS cited the victim's father as saying in the complaint lodged with the police that his son was returning home from the Aami area when some people caught hold of him and thrashed him. The complaint added that they forced him to consume soil and urine and shaved off his eyebrows. The accused called him on the spot and allowed him to take his son home after warning them to not report this to the police.
The victim's father also alleged that he had contacted the Sujanganj police on Thursday evening itself but his complaint was not registered following which he had to meet the Jaunpur SP for the same.
Recently, Gujarat reported a case of a tribal woman living in Vyara town of Tapi district being allegedly kidnapped, thrashed, tonsured, and left half naked on a roadside by her lover’s family.
On Nov 14, 2023, two Dalit youths were abused and thrashed by a gang in Tamil Nadu's Vellore when one of the victims accelerated his two-wheeler while halting briefly near a railway gate.
Also, it may be recalled that in a horrific incident of casteism in Tamil Nadu's Vengaivayal, human excrement was discovered in the lone overhead tank supplying potable water to the village dominated by the Dalit community. So far, but for rhetorics, the state government has failed to ensure justice for the Dalit victims.
Further, all these are not isolated incidents. Many cases go unreported due to intimidation or fear of reporting to the police.
Systemic dehumanization and casteism rear its head whenever reports of horrific incidents come out in the media. If not, the social evils that are embedded in the system lie dormant. The victims would be forced to run from pillar to post. Where should they go for justice? People in power alone can answer.