Dalit activist dies during clash with cops in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: A 40-year-old Dalit woman protester died of cardiac arrest in a clash with police during a protest in front of the Hyderabad collector’s office on Monday afternoon.
D Bharati from Addagutta in Secunderabad was among the protesters associated with the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS), an organisation demanding four sub-groups for the Scheduled Castes in Telangana. The Madigas are a Scheduled Caste (SC) sub-section.
Bharati, along with hundreds of MRPS activists, gathered outside the Hyderabad Collectorate in protest against a delay by the Centre in splitting the SC people into four categories. They want the government to divide their right to reservation in jobs and education accordingly, on the lines of the OBCS.
They also want the Telangana government to take an all-party delegation to New Delhi to put pressure on the Centre to fulfil their demand.
A clash occurred when police prevented the MRPS activists from entering the collectorate. Many protesters were detained and packed into police buses.
Bharati resisted when woman constables pushed the protesters towards the vehicles, but she collapsed and fell unconscious.
Police took her to Osmania General Hospital, where the doctors tried to resurrect her. But she didn’t recover. They said she died of a cardiac arrest.
Many MRPS activists gathered at the hospital, and shouted slogans against police and the Telangana government after her death.
The tragedy rocked the Telangana state assembly in the afternoon. Opposition parties condemned what they called “highhanded behaviour” of police.
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao expressed his condolences for the unfortunate death and announced an ex gratia of ₹25 lakh to her family. He also promised to take care of the education and upkeep of her children.