Indore: A group of upper caste members beat up the family of a 16-year-old Dalit girl, allegedly for sending her to school against their diktat in a village in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh. According to the girl’s statement to police, they barred her way when she was returning home from school and threatened her: “How dare you go to school when no girl in our village is allowed to.” When the girl went home and told her parents, they protested but were beaten up by upper caste men. Five of her relatives were injured.
The administration, however, denies that girls of this village are barred from school.
The incident happened on the evening of July 23 in a village barely 10km from the district headquarters.
It came to light when a video of the incident went viral on Monday night. Lathi-wielding men are seen attacking the girl’s family and shouting abuses at them. The girl also issued a video statement on how she was threatened not to go to school. In the FIR, she has said that four youths intercepted when she was returning home from school with a classmate. “When my cousin intervened, they beat him up. Around 15-20 minutes later, family members of the youths attacked my family,” she said in the FIR. Subdivisional police officer Deepa Dodwe told TOI that the girl has mentioned in her complaint that she was stopped from attending school.
Socialist Party (India)
