By Ismat Ara
New Delhi: A 65-year-old Dalit man was allegedly attacked by several ‘upper’ caste members of his village in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli on January 30 in the course of an argument over a water pipe in his home.
However, when he went to the local police station with his sons to file a complaint the very same day, the police allegedly refused to file an FIR, according to the family. The family has alleged that the police even threatened to suspend one of the victim’s sons, who works as a police constable.
The victim, Changa Lal Raghuvar, is a former truck driver who lives in Raebareli’s Chandauli village with his son Ashish and his daughter. Raghuvar has three other sons, one works as a truck driver, another as an air conditioner technician and the third, as a police constable.
An FIR was only registered after the family wrote a letter to the local superintendent of police detailing the alleged violence and police inaction.
The FIR named three ‘upper’ caste men: Rajesh, Rajendra Prasad and Golu and booked them under various sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (SC/ST Act) as well as Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (insult to provoke breach of peace).
The family only received a copy of the FIR on February 3, four days after Raghuvar was beaten up.
Dreams of a pucca house
After the death of Raghuvar’s wife last year, the family decided to use her life’s savings – close to Rs 1 lakh – to fulfil her dream of converting their kutcha house into a pucca one. As such, there was construction going on in Raghuvar’s home on the day of the incident, which began when the assailants blocked one of the pipes being used by the builders.
“They (the assailants) put cement on the pipe that workers were using to drain out water during the construction,” said Raghuvar’s son Ashish.
After this, an argument broke out between the 65-year-old Raghuvar and the men, in the course of which they attacked him. “When I tried to question why they had blocked our pipe, they attacked me and brutally beat me up. As a result I have suffered many injuries all over my body,” the complaint filed by Raghuvar reads.
“I was working in a field nearby when I heard sounds. After rushing back, I saw my father being beaten up with sticks and rods by six or seven men. There was a crowd around them, but nobody helped him. He was shouting in pain,” Ashish said.
Ashish, who works as a labourer, told The Wire that Raghuvar was left with severe bruises across his body after the beating.
Ashish went on to say that all the attackers could be easily identified since they all belonged to the same village. “They are Brahmins. Nobody will question them. Even our community members are scared of opposing them because most Dalits work in their fields,” he said.
“We have always kept quiet. In the past, there have been instances when faeces from ‘upper’ caste houses filled up our houses. But we have never complained, thinking that we are low born,” Ashish said.
FIR filed only after SP intervention
The letter to the SP, written on February 2, detailed the events of the days following the incident.
In the letter, the complainant wrote that he was assaulted by members of the Brahmin community in his village who also abused him with local caste-based slur while they beat him.
“After the victim somehow saved himself, the attackers threatened to kill him the next time. If no action is taken against the culprits, they can cause us great harm,” the letter read.
Further, referring to police neglect, the letter read, “We went to Khiron police station with our complaint the same day, where the police took it from us and told us to go back home. But they never filed an FIR, nor did any investigation.”
The next day, the victim and one of his other sons, Ankush, went back to the station. However, this time, the police held them in jail for three hours rather than taking notice of their complaints.
After much struggle, the police temporarily arrested two of the accused for a few hours the next day and then let them go. “They did not charge any of the accused with criminal offences even then,” the letter read.
After receiving the letter, SP Shlok Kumar intervened and had an FIR registered. Speaking to The Wire on February 2, SP Kumar said that the relevant circle officer has been deputed to look into the case.
However, the family only received a copy of the FIR on Thursday, February 3, four days after the incident. The family told The Wire that the life threats made by the ‘upper’ caste members were not taken seriously enough.
Why the delay?
Speaking to The Wire, circle officer Mahipal Pathak said that there was a delay in registering the FIR because the family was “hesitant” to file a complaint. However, the family claims to have visited the police station every day since the incident and having been repeatedly turned away by the police.
Moreover, according to Ashish, the police even threatened to suspend the victim’s son who only recently started working as a constable.
“I was initially scared that if we file an FIR, my brother may get suspended or lose his job. But after I asked him, he said he wants us to file it immediately,” Ashish said.
Raghuvar’s son recently started working with UP police after clearing his exams. His training for the exams was entirely handled by him alone. He learned from YouTube videos, while also working a job to pay for the course material.
This story first appeared on thewire.in