After PM Modi's town hall address, here's a look at cases of Dalit atrocities

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at the town hall meeting on Saturday, where he made an emotional appeal to the country asking people to “stop attacking my Dalit brethren. If you have to shoot, shoot me, but not my Dalit brothers”, the atrocities on Dalits continued unabated. The Centre on Tuesday said that the issue of atrocities against Dalits will be taken up by the Lok Sabha on Thursday. “The issue of Dalit atrocities will be taken up on Thursday. There is no hesitation from government to discuss this issue. We have always been open for the discussion,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters. Modi’s 6 August address came at a time when the NDA government is facing flak over incidents of violence against Dalits and Muslims by cow vigilantes in various states including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. [caption id=“attachment_2941044” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PM Narendra Modi at the townhall on Saturday. PTI[/caption] A look at some of them: 7 August: Two children belonging to the minority community, one of whom is Dalit, were allegedly tied to a pole and brutally assaulted by a vegetable vendor who suspected them of theft, at Sadar Kotwali. The incident took place outside the shop on Sunday, reported The Indian Express . The incident came to light when a passerby witnessed it and informed the police, who in turn rescued the two children, the report added. 8 August: Two Dalit brothers were stripped and thrashed by a mob of gau rakshaks after they skinned a cow, which had died due to electrocution. The incident took place at Janakipeta in Amalapuram town of the district in Andhra Pradesh. The two were admitted to a hospital in Amalapuram for treatment. On getting to know of the skinning, the gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) went to the place and beat up the duo, identified as Mokati Elisha and Lazer, suspecting that they had killed the animal. Eight people were arrested arrested by Allavaram police, who clarified that the incident had nothing to do with “cow vigilantism” as suspected. 9 August: A 22-year-old Dalit man was beaten to death by a shopkeeper and his employees, after he was accused of stealing wrist watches in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district, reported The Indian Express. The FIR, which was filed by the victim’s neighbour, revealed that Avaneesh was beaten up and hit on the head with a stick after he told the shopkeeper he belonged to the Dalit community, reported International Business Times . The Indian Express added that the police arrested shopkeepers Pushpendra Singh and Sanjeev Verma, who will be produced before the court on Thursday. Two other men who were also beat up Avaneesh have absconded. 9 August: A 15-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly gang raped, while her minor sister was sexually assaulted by three men, including a relative of the victims’, police said on Wednesday. The accused identified as Ajay, their distant, and his friends Balram and Pradeep were arrested on Wednesday, Sonipat’s Baroda police station inspector Rajpal said. According to police, the girls were allegedly abducted from their schools by the accused on Tuesday and taken to agricultural fields in Banvasa village, where one of them was allegedly gang raped, while her 16-year-old sister was sexually assaulted. All the accused were booked under different sections, including 376 (rape), of the IPC, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and SC/ST Act, police said. The girls were threatened of dire consequences if they disclosed the incident to anyone, police said, adding the victims’ statements were recorded before a magistrate. 9 August: A 30-year-old Dalit man was allegedly assaulted by the gram pradhan and others at Tugalpur village in Muzaffarnagar, police said on Wednesday. According to the complaint filed by Vinod Kumar, he was beaten up by village head Pertal Singh and others on Tuesday, when he was going to the fields. Based on the complaint, a case has been filed against Singh and one other under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 307 (attempt to murder), 341 (wrongful restraint), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, police said. 10 August: A minor Dalit girl and her father were beaten up by a temple priest in Gunnaur in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district, when the girl tried drawing water from the temple well. The 13-year-old was reportedly denied water by the priest due to her Dalit status. After the father confronted the priest over the issue, he was attacked with a trident. A few followers of the priest also joined in the attack against the family. The police have launched an investigation and also arrested the accused. A case was registered against the priest under SC and ST Act after family protested. Here’s a brief timeline of instances of atrocities on Dalits after Modi’s town hall address. With inputs from PTI