Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 19: After the incident in Madhya Pradesh that ended with the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan profusely apologising to the victim, yet another case of a tribal man being urinated upon has surfaced, this time in Andhra Pradesh.
The incident was of last month, but it came to the knowledge of the police a couple of days ago while inquiring into the case of an assault. Six people, including three minors were arrested on charges of assault of the tribal man allegedly over a love affair with a minor girl.
Two of the arrested were seen in a video urinating on a tribal man, over his relationship with a teenage girl in Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district. According to police, one of the accused, Ramanjaneyulu, who belonged to upper caste community and also a childhood friend of the tribal man, Mota Naveen, called him for a drink to clear difference after a fallout over Naveen’s relationship with a teenage girl despite Ramanjaneyulu’s objection as the girl was reportedly in a relationship with Abhilash, a friend of the accused.
The accused, along with eight other people, of which three are minors, allegedly thrashed and urinated on the tribal man, the police said. Mota Naveen is also believed to be a history-sheeter having several cases lodged against him.
The police had filed a case of assault and intimidation causing injury based on the man’s complaint, but he did not reveal that he was urinated upon. The incident came to the police’s attention after videos surfaced five days ago, showing the accused urinating on the tribal man. The Prakasam Superintendent of Police, Malika Garg said, “We have booked a case under SC/ST prevention of atrocities law after we found videos of the accused urinating on the tribal man. Nine people had beaten the 26-year-old for allegedly having an affair with a minor girl and continuing with the affair despite being warned against it. Three accused are still on the run.”
Six arrested were presented in the court on Wednesday and three of the accused have been sent to judicial custody, while the minors were presented before the juvenile court.
The victim is a pig-rearer and has multiple cases filed against him, the police said. Earlier, a case under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) was filed against him and was even sent to jail, but he continued his relationship with the 16-year-old girl.
In MP last month, a tribal man was allegedly urinated upon by an upper caste youth, a BJP youth wing activist who was arrested and is still in the Rewa central jail. The chief minister had invited the tribal to his residence in Bhopal and washed his feet as a gesture to appease the tribal community.