Dalit teen abducted, forced to prostrate before caste Hindus in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai
Madurai: A 17-year-old Dalit boy from Sankampatti village in Usilampatti, Madurai, was allegedly abducted and humiliated by a group of caste Hindus who forced him to prostrate before them. The incident occurred on January 16, but police registered a case only on January 18, sparking outrage from rights groups.
According to the teenager’s complaint, members of the dominant caste abducted him when he returned home for the Pongal holidays. He alleged that the group hurled casteist slurs, beat him, and forced him to prostrate before each member present, including a six-year-old child.
The boy’s relative, advocate Deviammal, further alleged that the attackers urinated on him before releasing him after learning that police had been alerted.
The Usilampatti police have registered an FIR against six individuals, invoking provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Sections 296(b) and 351(2), along with Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
However, the police denied the allegation that the accused urinated on the boy. “The case has been registered based on the teenager’s complaint. The claim about urination is not true. Further investigation is underway,” officials stated.
The Neelam Cultural Centre condemned the delay in filing the FIR, accusing the police of shielding the accused. “The police registered the FIR only on January 18 even though the complaint was lodged on January 16. This shows their bias,” the group posted on X.
The boy, who is undergoing treatment at the Usilampatti Government Hospital, remains traumatised. Relatives also accused the police of trying to weaken the case by misrepresenting his age as 19 instead of 17.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
