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Dalit couple brutally thrashed

JAIPUR: A Dalit couple objecting to the shifting of sand from their field to a road being constructed under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) barely 40 km from the Rajasthan Capital were brutally thrashed by villagers belonging to dominant castes over the weekend. The terrified couple are spending sleepless nights after being threatened with dire consequences.

Dalit activists who went to Padasoli village to investigate the case were also allegedly threatened and their digital camera was snatched and damaged. Higher caste men hounded them out of the village and they could escape unscathed only with the help of the Deputy Sarpanch.

Despite the fact-finding team of the Jaipur-based Centre for Dalit Rights (CDR) reporting the matter to the police on Thursday evening, no first information report has been registered so far. Dalit victim Nathulal Bairwa and his kin are reportedly spending nights outside their house for fear of another attack by the villagers.

Nathulal Bairwa had approached the CDR seeking its help for getting an alleged encroachment on his land rem-oved and complained of removal of sand from the bou- ndary wall of his field as well as a Dalits’ crematorium for being used in the construction of a road under NREGS.

When a four-member CDR team arrived at Padasoli village in Bassi tehsil and met Nathulal and his wife in their field, a mob comprising about 50 miscreants stormed the field, caught hold of the Dalit couple and assaulted them in the presence of the activists.

Gopal Ram Verma, one of the members of the CDR team, said the miscreants belonging to the dominant Rajput, Gujjar and Meena castes used abusive language for Dalit activists while asking them to “run away” from the place. “They snatched and damaged our digital camera and threatened to torch our jeep,” he added. When the CDR team tried to reason with the assailants, some of them threatened the activists with spears. Deputy Sarpanch Rameshwar Meena, sensing danger to the lives of the activists, brought them out of the village.

After the narrow escape of the activists, CDR Director Satish Kumar reported the matter at the Bassi police station. A police team visited the village late on Thursday night but did not take any action to give protection to the Dalit family or identify the miscreants.

Nathulal and his wife, facing threats to their lives, also approached the police separately and sought protection along with the registration of a case under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. However, the police have not registered any FIR so far.

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