Dalits face slurs, Delhi panel visits state village
Express News Service Posted online: Sat Feb 26 2011, 04:29 hrs
Ahmedabad : A few days after upper caste villagers allegedly
humiliated Dalits taking part in two wedding processions near Viramgam
in Ahmedabad district, a team from the the National Commission for
SCs/STs visited the area on Friday and directed the administration to
take steps to ensure it does not happen again. The district's
Superintendent of Police has assured steps will be taken as soon as
possible.
On February 18, upper-caste members in Dhalgarwad village had
reportedly misbehaved with a Dalit bridegroom, asking him to get off
the horse he rode during the wedding procession. They reportedly said
Dalits were not privileged to ride horses. The bridegroom had had to
oblige.
Later the same day, however, some of the Dalits present at the scene
went to police station and asked for protection for another marriage
that was to take place two days later.
The wedding on February 20, Sunday, had a police team led by an
inspector in tow as requested, accompanying the wedding procession
that had come from Ahmedabad. As the procession passed, some
upper-caste villagers shouted abuses and threw stones at the
procession even though the police were present.
Shaken by the incident, the parties concerned conducted the wedding
ceremony hurriedly. However, one of the visitors from Ahmedabad went
and filed a case with the police under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, naming five persons.
The police immediately arrested the five men, but a judge had granted
them bail soon after.
Today, National Commission for SCs/STs member Raju Parmar visited
Dhalgarwad along with senior police officers, district officer for the
Social Justice Department and the collector and forwarded several
recommendations after after hearing out the Dalits of the village.
Dhalgarwad has only one road that connects the entry to the village to
the Dalit basti. All the Dalits who have to work outside the village
or the children who go to school have to pass by the areas dominated
by upper castes, Parmar said.
The first recommendation of the central team was that police presence
be stepped up along this road so that no untoward incident takes place
against Dalits. Secondly, the district administration has been asked
to "find another path" through which the Dalits can reach their homes
without having to pass through upper-caste areas.
The third recommendation is that the police appeal in the Gujarat High
Court against the bail granted to the accused by a lower court as
cases under the Atrocities Act are non-bailable and the accused cannot
even be granted anticipatory bail.
SP Sandeep Singh, when contacted, said Parmar's recommendations had
been received and assured speedy implementation.
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