3 Dalit boys in Maharashtra paraded nude, beaten for swimming in village well
Jalgaon, June 14: In a shocking incident, three minor Dalit boys were stripped, beaten and paraded nude in a village here for allegedly swimming in a village well, officials said here on Thursday.
The incident occurred on June 10 (Sunday), but came to the fore only after some videos of the boys' parading in the Vakadi village went viral even as the authorities swung into action.
Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Dilip Kamble told media persons that two persons have been arrested in this connection and further investigations are underway.
Union Social Welfare Minister Ramdas Athawale condemned the incident and demanded "stringent action against the perpetrators of the atrocity on the boys".
Last Sunday, to beat the scorching heat, the three young boys, aged around 12-14, jumped into a village well for a cool swim.
However, as some locals learnt of it, a large number of people, including many from upper castes, gathered near the well and pulled out the boys.
They were shouted at and subjected to abuses before some persons allegedly forced the boys to strip and paraded them nude around the village.
The boys can be seen wearing only sandals and some tree leaves, and they protested when at least one person was whipping them on the legs and back with sticks and what appeared to be a leather belt.
After much cajoling the boys and their families reluctantly lodged a complaint with the local police, but now they were under intense pressures from some influential villagers to backtrack.
Several Dalit and political leaders from the opposition Congress and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, including ex-minister Eknath Khadse, Gujarat Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani, have condemned the incident and demanded that the culprits be booked under the SC/ST Act.
Former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and former state Minister Laxman Dhoble, terming the incident as unfortunate, said that such incidents are on the rise in recent times and the matter has also been discussed in Parliament.
This evening, Maharashtra Minister Chandrakant Patil promised action in the matter and invoking sections of the SC/ST Act and Indian Penal Code, besides steps to ensure such acts are not repeated in future.
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SC refuses to entertain plea against deletion of names from WB voter list, terms it ‘premature’
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea by a group of 13 people seeking its intervention in the deletion of their names from the voter list during the Special Institutional Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, where polling for the first phase of the assembly election will be held on April 23.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi termed the petition "premature", directing the aggrieved parties to approach the established appellate tribunals instead.
"Since the petitioners (Quaraisha Yeasmin and others) have already approached the appellate tribunals… in our considered view, the apprehensions expressed in the petition are premature. If the plea is allowed, then necessary consequences will follow,” the bench said in its order, adding that it has not expressed any views on the merits of the plea.
The plea alleged that the Election Commission was summarily deleting names without following due process, and that appeals against these deletions were not being heard in a timely manner.
The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court has set up as many as 19 tribunals headed by former HC chief justices and judges to decide appeals against deletions of names of persons from the voters’ lists.
Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the poll panel, informed the court that there are approximately 30 to 34 lakh appeals currently pending. "Every tribunal now has over one lakh appeals to handle," the bench said.
The petitioners’ counsel argued that the EC had failed to place necessary orders before the relevant judicial authorities and that the "freezing date" for the electoral rolls should be extended.
"If I am not allowed to argue, then what is the use? Will these appeals be decided within a timeframe or just kept extending?" the counsel asked.
Justice Bagchi, during the hearing, referred to the sanctity of the electoral process and said the right to vote is not merely a constitutional formality but a "sentimental" pillar of democracy.
"The right to vote in a country you were born in is not just constitutional, but sentimental. It is about being part of a democracy and helping elect a government," he said.
He, however, said that the tribunals, manned by former judges, cannot be overburdened by fixing the timelines for adjudications.
"It is not the end justifying the means, but the means justifying the end," Justice Bagchi said.
"We need to protect due process rights. The voter should not be sandwiched between two constitutional authorities," he said, adding that it would not interdict the election process at this stage.
Justice Bagchi noted that the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice had already formulated the manner and mode for appeals, which began on Monday.
"Unless and until an enormous number of voters are excluded or it materially affects the election... the election cannot be cancelled," the bench said, adding that judicial intervention is intended to "promote elections, not interdict them."
The CJI emphasised that the petitioners must exhaust their remedies before the appellate tribunals.
Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.
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