NEW DELHI, April 19: A video that went viral on the social media led to the arrest of eight youths in Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. The video showed a Dalit teenager boy being assaulted, humiliated and made to lick the feet of one of the accused.
A senior police officer said the incident took place on April 10 but the video went viral on social media only on Sunday following which the police took prompt action and arrested the eight youths, some of them being minor. A FIR was also lodged on the same day based on the complaint of the victim, a student of Class X.
The victim told the media persons that he did not know most of the accused and still have no idea why was he assaulted and humiliated. “One of the boys came to my house on April 10 and took me to a secluded place where there were seven others. I didn’t recognise any of the seven. They assaulted and humiliated me. I don’t know them and I don’t know why they assaulted me. After beating me up, they left me there and later, I was rescued by some people.”
Harikeh Singh, SHO of the local police station, said, “We have arrested all the eight accused. Some of the accused are minors. We are arranging the paperwork and will take further action accordingly. It was a case of enmity between the boys which led to the incident. The FIR has been lodged under the IPC section for assault while the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has also been invoked.”
In the viral video, the assaulters can be heard threatening and using casteist slurs while assaulting the Dalit boy. “The victim was also assaulted with belts and had sustained minor injuries in the incident. A medical examination was conducted and currently, he is back home,” the police said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
