Dalit boy stripped, forced to dance for stealing wire in Kota
Kota (Rajasthan) (PTI): A 12-year-old Dalit boy was allegedly stripped naked, forced to dance and filmed after he was caught stealing wire from an event here, police said on Saturday.
A purported video showing the boy dancing to a song with four to five men sitting around surfaced online. In the video, the men were compelling the boy to dance with a smile.
The matter came to light after police found the video and located the victim. They encouraged his family to file a complaint, police said.
Based on the complaint by the victim's father, his son had attended a comedy event on Friday night, organized at a fair in GAD Circle. Around four to five men accosted his son between 1 am and 4 am. They accused him of stealing a wire and assaulted him.
The complainant further alleged that the accused stripped his son naked and forced him to dance. They also recorded the act, police said.
Based on the complaint, an FIR was lodged under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), they said.
Six people, including a father-son duo, were arrested in the case, they said. The accused were identified as Kshitij Gurjar (24) alias Bittu, Ashish Upadhyay alias Vikku (52), his son Yayati Upadhyay (24) alias Gungun, Gourav Soni (21), Sandeep Singh (30) alias Rahul Bannasha, and Sumit Kumar Sain (25), they added.
During the initial investigation, the police found that the six accused were part of a music firm and suspected the victim of stealing wire from their music system, DSP Manish Sharma said.
The accused were produced in court, Sharma added.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
