3 tribal men stripped naked, beaten in MP
ACCUSED THRASHED THE THREE MEN AS THEY SUSPECTED THEM TO HAVE STOLEN 120 LITRES OF DIESEL, POLICE SAY
BHOPAL/JABALPUR : A transporter and his friend have been booked for stripping his three tribal employees naked and beating them in public for allegedly stealing 120 litres of diesel in Jabalpur, according to police.
The incident happened on July 11, but the victims did not file a police complaint because they feared for their lives, police said. It was after a video of the incident surfaced on social media on Friday that police took cognisance and started investigating.
The accused have been identified as Guddu Sharma, who runs a transport business, and his friend Sheru. They are both absconding.
The victims are all residents of Mandla district in south east Madhya Pradesh, 466 km from Bhopal. They were stripped naked, lined up against a shuttered shop along Andhmook bypass road, and beaten with a baseball bat.
Apart from IPC Sections 34 (Act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 294 (Obscene act), 323 (Voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (Criminal intimidation), the two accused have been charged under section 3 (1) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which carry a minimum punishment of 7 years.
In the video, Sharma is seen hurling abuses at the victims and hitting them, while asking how much diesel they had stolen. His accomplice Sheru, who was shooting the video, is heard saying they would have to suffer as they had committed a crime.
Several people are seen watching but nobody steps forward to help the victims.
Sanjeevani Nagar police station in-charge, Bhuvneshwari Chauhan said the victims were initially not willing to lodge the first information report (FIR) out of fear of the accused. However, they agreed when the police assured them of action and of their safety, he added. CHENNAI: Superstar Rajinikanth, who expressed an interest to enter politics in December 2017, has said that he is still undecided about contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The actor addressed a press conference at his house in Chennai on Sunday where he backed the idea of simultaneous polls.
Edited excerpts of his responses to media questions: Time will decide such things. I cannot reveal that now. (Laughs) As of now, I have not decided about it. Since there is more time available for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, I will inform about this during the time of LS polls. No, we have not enrolled that many people. However, we are moving towards that target. We are strengthening our organisation at the grassroots level. I support simultaneous polls. If it was implemented, we can save the time and money which we have been spending for two differ- Salem-chennai project is essential for the development of the state. If the project was implemented in a better way, many industries will come to TN and employment opportunities will also increase. Of course, I accept there will be some loss for the people. But the government should give maximum compensation to the people. Meanwhile, it is my Education is better in Tamil Nadu as compared to other states. However, it needs to be improved. As per my knowledge, the state government is doing well when it comes to improving the quality of education.