Sudipto Mondal
| The savage assault ruined his dreams of a happy married life |
Sridhar's mentally challenged brother picked up by police
'The assailants were there when we went to the station'
PERAJE (KODAGU DISTRICT): Traditionally, most men in his community are married at his age. But Sridhar (27) – a Dalit victim of a particularly savage upper caste atrocity – has no marital plans.
"I do not think I will be able to have children because of the beating I received that day," he says recalling the events of July 5, 2009 when he was abducted from his home, taken to Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district, brutally beaten, stripped and paraded in public by Bajrang Dal activists.
They suspected him of having abducted Anitha (22), an upper caste girl who is the sister of a powerful Bajrang Dal leader from Bantwal. However, it was later found that Anitha was actually murdered by serial killer Mohan Kumar.
A plantation worker from the extremely backward 'Mugera' Scheduled Caste, he has not been able to work or even stand straight since the attack. "They repeatedly targeted my abdomen and back," he says. A year on, his violence-induced impotence, a few scars on his face, and his stooping gait are the only bits of medical evidence remaining for the Bantwal police, which has belatedly begun investigations into the case after initially refusing to admit his complaint.
There was ample physical proof of the attack when Mr. Sridhar first approached the Bantwal police with a complaint. "He was not able to walk without support. He had bandages all over his body," recalls Saraswati, a Dalit activist who had accompanied him to the police station then and is continuing to fight for justice in the case.
"To our shock, the attackers were already present at the police station when we reached there. The Circle Inspector merely scolded them," she alleges.
Commenting on the failure of the police to book the perpetrators, a senior police official in the district says the disappearance of Anitha was a extremely sensitive case.
"The entire region was in state of foment and the police were under pressure from the government to solve the case. They feared that booking Sridhar's assailants would invite a backlash," the officer says.
'Love jihad'
This is the same Anitha whose disappearance led several Sangh Parivar organisations to allege that she had fallen prey to "love jihad".
On October 4, 2009, head of the Gurupura Math Rajashekharananda-
Shocking action
What compounded this case of gross human rights violation was the treatment meted out to Sridhar's mentally challenged brother Babu.
He was picked up by the then Sub-Inspector of Bantwal (Rural) police and allegedly kept in illegal detention and tortured for two days, said Geetha (28), his sister-in-law.
The police torture allegedly led to serious injury to Mr. Babu's private organs.
"We kept telling Shivprakash that it is the Bajrang Dal activists who should be punished for what they did to Sridhar. But he would not listen," says Ms. Geetha.
--
Sudipto Mondal
Senior Correspondent
The Hindu, Mangalore Bureau
(+91) 98860 47770
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