The incident in Barmer comes close on the heels of several other reported cases of caste-based atrocities against Dalit children in the state
NEW DELHI – An eight-year-old Dalit boy was brutally beaten and hung upside down by members of an upper-caste family in Barmer district of Rajasthan for allegedly touching a drinking water pot.
The incident took place in Bhakharpura village on August 29. According to the boy’s mother, Puri Devi, the child was asked by Narnaram Prajapat and Demaram Prajapat to clean a bathroom and collect garbage. After completing the work, he requested water and touched their pot, which allegedly triggered the attack.
Police have arrested one of the accused.
The two accused allegedly dragged the boy to a house, hung him upside down from a tree, and continued beating him. The assault was reportedly stopped only after a relative of the boy began filming the incident on his mobile phone. Shortly afterward, the accused allegedly stormed into the boy’s house and attacked his mother and grandmother, according to media reports.
“They took him to Narnaram’s house, tied him upside down to a tree, and kept beating him,” media reports quoted Puri Devi as saying. She further alleged that when she and her mother-in-law tried to intervene, the accused barged into their house and assaulted them as well.
Circle Officer Sukhram Bishnoi confirmed the violence. “Medical examination confirms the child was beaten and hung upside down. The claim that it was provoked by touching a water pot is part of our ongoing investigation,” he said.
Police registered an FIR on Saturday (August 30), naming three men — Narnaram, Demaram, and Ruparam Prajapat. They have been booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to wrongful confinement, and kidnapping, along with provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The boy is under medical care. His family has demanded strict action and protection, while Dalit rights groups have condemned the attack as another grim reminder of entrenched caste discrimination in Rajasthan.
This incident comes close on the heels of several other reported cases of caste-based atrocities against Dalit children in Rajasthan, raising questions on the effectiveness of existing safeguards and the urgent need for stronger social reform measures.
