DALIT KIDS SLAIN FOR DEFECATING IN THE STREET

Two Dalit children were allegedly beaten to death by two persons for defecating on a street in front of a panchayat building in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district on Wednesday, the police said. The father of one of the deceased alleged that they were being discriminated on account of their caste in Bhavkedhi village, where the incident took place in the morning. The two accused, Hakim Yadav and his brother Rameshwar Yadav, have been arrested and booked. The investigation so far suggests that there were only two accused. The two children were identified as Roshani Balmiki (12) and Avinash Balmiki (10). The father of the deceased claimed that the children were not even allowed to draw water from a village well. Terming the killing as unfortunate, BSP president Mayawati slammed the successive BJP and Congress governments in the state for "failing to provide proper toilet facilities". "Besides depriving millions of Dalits, backwards and religious minorities of government facilities, they have also been made a victim of all kinds of malicious atrocities. In such a situation, the dastardly violence is most unfortunate and condemnable," the BSP chief tweeted. In another tweet, she said, "The Congress and the BJP governments should explain why proper toilet facilities have not been provided in the houses of poor Dalits and backward communities? If this truth is very bitter, then those who beat to death the Dalits for defecating in the open should be hanged."