Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — A Dalit man in Madhya Pradesh has filed a complaint with the police, alleging that an upper caste Hindu smeared faeces on his face and body after he accidentally touched the latter.
The incident came to light weeks after a video surfaced on social media showing an upper-caste Hindu, reportedly having links with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), urinating on a tribal man in the state’s Sidhi district, triggering massive outrage.
In his complaint lodged with the police on Saturday, Dashrath Ahirwar named Ramkripal Patel as the culprit, media reports reaching here said on Sunday.
Patel belongs to the ‘Other Backward Class” considered higher than the Dalits in the Hindu hierarchy.
Ahirwar claimed that the incident happened while he was engaged in building a drain in Bikaura village in Chhatarpur district. He said that Patel was bathing at a nearby pump.
According to Ahirwar, he accidentally touched Patel with the grease he was using in the construction work. In response, Patel filled the mug he was using for bathing with excretion lying in a nearby drain and smeared it on his face and head.
Ahirwar also claimed that he complained to a panchayat but was fined Rs 600, media reports said.
However, the police said Ahirwar was ‘playing’ with others when he accidentally put grease on Patel’s hand. But, in contrast to Ahirwar’s version, the police said that the faeces were thrown on the Dalit man’s back.
Police added that both men are between 40 and 45 years old.
The accused has been detained based on the complaint, a police official said.
“A case is being registered against Ramkripal Patel under Sections 294 (punishment for obscene acts or words in public) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes (prevention of atrocities) Act,” Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Manmohan Singh Baghel said.
