Kharge demands “strict action” against man who smeared human waste on Dalit youth in MP

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday demanded strict action against a man who allegedly smeared human waste on a Dalit youth in Madhya Pradesh.

Coming down heavily on the BJP-led state government, Kharge highlighted that it was the “second incident of Dalit atrocity within a month.

For decades, the adivasis and backward class citizens of Madhya Pradesh have been suffering humiliation under BJP’s misrule, he added.

“BJP's ‘Sabka Saath’, is confined only to advertisements and has become a showy slogan and PR Stunt. BJP is shattering Babasaheb Ambedkar's dream of social justice every day. We demand that strictest action should be taken on this incident in Chhatarpur district,” Kharge posted a message on his official Twitter handle on Monday.

As per police, the incident took place on Friday at Bikaura village, about 35 km from the Chhatarpur district headquarters.

In his complaint, the victim Dashrath Ahriwar told the police that the incident took place when he was bathing at a hand pump after cleaning a drainage in the village.

Meanwhile, Ramkripal Patel, who belongs to an OBC community, also came at the same handpump and the victim accidentally touched him.

Infuriated over the incident, Patel picked up human faeces lying nearby with a mug and smeared it on Ahriwar's head and face, the victim told the police.

Upon reporting the matter, instead of action against the accused, the panchayat slapped him with a fine of Rs 600.

Ahriwar then approached the local police on Saturday. “A case has been registered against Ramkripal Patel under sections 294 (punishment for obscene acts or words in public) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,” Sub Divisional Officer of Police Manmohan Singh Baghel told the press.

The incident sparked political controversy in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.