India

Eight booked for assaulting Dalit man, making him to drink urine in Rajasthan

Rajasthan: Eight persons were booked by Rajasthan police on Friday for physically assaulting a Dalit man and making him drink urine in Churu district.

The victim has been identified as Rakesh Meghwal, a native of Rukhasar village. The incident took place on the night of January 26.

According to a First Information Report filed on January 27, a man named Umesh Jat from Meghwal’s village came to his residence and urged him to accompany him.

However, when Meghwal refused, seven other associates of Umesh pushed Meghwal into the car and drove him to a nearby field.

In the FIR copy, which was filed at Ratangarh police station, Meghwal mentioned, “(Accused) Rakesh and Rajesh took out a bottle of alcohol and forcibly made me drink it and after the bottle became empty, Rakesh, Rajesh, Umesh, Tarachand, Akshay, Dinesh, Bidadi Chand and Birbal urinated in that bottle and made me drink it.”

The FIR went on to say that the accused used slurs against his cast and used a pejorative term for Dalits, questioned their (Dalits’) “audacity to go into a confrontation with the Jat community”, and said that they “will be taught a lesson for this.”

“All of them beat me with sticks and ropes for around half an hour, which has resulted in injury marks on my entire body,” Meghwal said.

He claimed that the accused later dropped him in the village, believing he was dead and seized his phone. Meghwal further said that the accused harboured personal animosity towards him due to a dispute about playing a musical instrument during Holi.

The FIR names eight people as accused including Umesh, Rajesh, Tarachand, Rakesh, Birbal, Akshay, Dinesh, and Bidadi Chand.

The FIR was filed under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 365 (abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), and 382 (theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt, or restraint in order to commit the theft) of IPC alongwith relevant sections of Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989.

“We are trying to arrest the accused. Prima facie, the allegations of Meghwal being assaulted have been found to be true. All the accused are around the same age as him and it appears that there was a dispute. The complainant has said that around a year ago, he had dropped a musical instrument and the accused side had made certain remarks, which resulted in enmity. We are investigating this. Meghwal is able to walk and most of his injuries are on his back, which appears to be made by ropes,” The Indian Express quoted Ratangarh Circle Officer, Himanshu Sharma, as saying.

Police after initial investigations found all the allegations true however police has not found any evidence or clues regarding the allegation that Meghwal was forced to drink urine.

“We are investigating. All the accused are from the Jat community. We hope to make the arrests soon,” the report quoted Sharma further saying.

 

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