Dalit man beaten up in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district for using public water handpump

Banda: A 45-year-old Dalit man was beaten up in a village in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh on Friday allegedly by people who objected to his using a government-installed handpump, police said.

In an FIR lodged at the Bisanda police station, Ramchandra Raidas has alleged that family members of Ram Dayal Yadav attacked him with sticks when he went to take water from the handpump in Tendura village here in the morning, Station House Officer Narendra Pratap Singh said.

Raidas sustained injuries in the attack and was admitted to a primary health centre, Singh said.

The SHO said Raidas has also alleged that two months ago, the accused had banned them from taking water from the handpump installed in the locality of the Yadavs, but the matter was resolved following an intervention by the sub-divisional magistrate of Atarra.

An investigation in the case is underway, the police officer said.