Dalit student beaten up for drinking water from principal's bottle in UP's Bijnor
LUCKNOW: A farewell party took an ugly turn when a Dalit student was allegedly beaten up for drinking water from the bottle meant for the principal in Bijnor in western UP on Sunday.
The victim, a class XI student, was allegedly beaten up, abused, and forced to leave the venue, sources said.
The farewell party was organised by the class XI students for their seniors, at Chamandevi Inter College in Sirwasuchand village in Bijnor district.
According to the police, the doors of the hall — where the event was taking place— were locked once the students were in and they were not provided with water bottles.
In the complaint lodged by the victim, he said that when he felt thirsty, he picked up the water bottle to take a few sips. At that moment, the principal’s brother and his friend started thrashing and abusing him using casteist remarks saying that it was the water bottle meant for the principal. They also forced him to leave the hall.
Based on a complaint lodged by the student, Afzalgarh police have registered a case against principal Dr Yogendra Kumar and two others under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.
The police sources said that a notice would be served to the principal and two others named in the FIR and they would be interrogated. They would be required to appear in court when summoned.
The college principal however denied the charges. He claimed that once the event began, all students were asked to leave their mobile phones with a college employee, but that student refused to comply and video-graphed the event. The principal further claimed that since the student flouted the orders, his mobile phone was seized. He denied beating up the student.