Dalit beatings add to Cong discomfort
Shocking videos of two persons being brutally beaten up for allegedly stealing money from a motorcycle show room have come forth.
The videos show a group of persons kicking the two persons, beating them up with belts and pouring petrol on their private parts.
The persons being beaten can be seen fainting; the attackers pour water on them to bring them back to consciousness only to resume the thrashing.
The incident took place in the Panchodi police station area of Nagaur district on Sunday (February 16), but came to light when the videos went viral three days later on Wednesday. The police registered an FIR after the videos went viral. Five persons have been arrested.
Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal has accused the police of trying to suppress the matter by not registering a case under the relevant sections.
The persons being thrashed have been identified as 18-year-old Panna Ram and 26-year-old Disha Ram. The two are cousins and happen to be Dalits.
The seven attackers have been identified as Bhiv Singh, Aaidan Lashman Singh, Jassu Singh, Sawai Singh, Hadman Singh and Ganpat Ram.
According to Nagaur SP Vikas Pathak, “The incident came to our notice when the video went viral. The victims were identified and contacted. A case was registered and five persons have been arrested. Others are being identified and will be arrested.’’
The first political response came from Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal of Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, who termed the incident involving the two Dalit youth as a shame on humanity. ‘‘The police have not added section 370 and are also not looking at it as a violation of Human Rights. This is an attempt to suppress the matter and save the offenders,” he said.
The issue found resonance in the state assembly where three of the RLP MLAs entered the well of the house carrying posters and demanding the removal of the SP and instituting of a CBI inquiry. They then walked out of the house before CM Gehlot could present the state Budget and staged protest on the stairs of the State Assembly.Taking to twitter Rahul Gandhi wrote, “The recent video of two young Dalit men being brutally tortured in Nagaur, Rajasthan, is horrific & sickening. I urge the state Government to take immediate action to bring the perpetrators of this shocking crime to justice.”
Around 50 minutes after Gandhi’s tweet came the statement of CM Gehlot. “In the horrific incident in Nagaur, immediate and effective action has been taken and seven accused have been arrested so far. Nobody will be spared. The culprits will be punished according to the law and we will ensure that the victims get justice,” he said in a tweet. It needs to be mentioned here that Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar too had taken to twitter to announce that its team would meet the victims and Rajasthan would be shut down on February 23 to protest against the incident.