BHOPAL: Parshottam, a youngster belonging to the OBC category (Kushwah community), was allegedly dictated to wash the feet of a Brahmin man with water and drink it as atonement for a ‘sin’ committed by him. The incident took place on Friday night in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district.
He was punished for posting an AI-generated image of a Brahmin man, Anju Pandey. A village-level dispute in Sataria snowballed into such cruelty.
The village had imposed a self-declared ban on selling alcohol, but Anuj alias Anju Pandey violated that ban and continued to sell liquor. He was caught, and the villagers punished him by making him publicly apologise and pay a fine of Rs 2100, following a unanimous resolution. Anuj accepted it as well.
However, the problem did not end there. On Friday, Parshottam allegedly created AI AI-generated image of Anju Pandey wearing a garland of shoes. Though Parshottam deleted the post within minutes and apologised for it, the Brahmin caste men considered it an insult to their entire caste.
Parshottam was called to a Shiva Temple in the village, where he was forced by the Brahmin caste people to wash Anju Pandey’s feet and drink it. The entire insulting act happened in the presence of Brahmin caste men as well as a few Kushwaha caste men.
The entire act inside the temple premises was filmed. The video has gone viral, too. In the video, Parshottam is seen apologising to the entire Brahmin caste, kneeling before a Shiva Linga and placing Rs 5100 as a fine for his acts.
Both Parshottam and Anju Pandey did not report the matter to the police and instead released separate videos stating that all that happened was part of a Guru-Shishya relationship, and a few people were trying to disturb the social harmony.
However, a Kushwaha caste man, Shobha Prasad, reported the matter to the police on Saturday.
“Four men, including Anuj alias Anju Pandey, Kamlesh Pandey, Brajesh Pandey, Rahul Pandey and two to three unidentified men have been listed among the accused in the FIR, lodged at Patera police station under Sections 296, 196(1)(b) and 3(5) BNS and efforts are underway to arrest the accused,” Damoh district police superintendent Shrutkirti Somwanshi said.
The sections deal with the offences of obscene acts, acting prejudicial to social harmony and crime committed with common intent.
According to Damoh district police sources, a case is likely to soon be lodged against Parshottam Kushwah for posting the AI-generated image of Anuj Pandey.
The Kushwahas and Brahmins form a significant chunk of the vote bank in the Hatta and Patera area of the Damoh district.
The incident exposed how caste-based oppression still prevails, particularly in the MP's Bundelkhand region.
