Chennai, April 16: The DMK, along with other opposition parties, staged a protest here on Monday against the dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Addressing the gathering, DMK leader M.K. Stalin said the Supreme Court order to dilute the Act was unacceptable.
Stalin demanded the Central government to file an appeal in the Supreme Court and also include the Act under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
The political parties that participated in the protest were DMK, Congress, IUML, MDMK, VCK and MMK.
The apex court in its March 20 order said that an accused cannot be mandatorily arrested under the Act without an initial probe.
The Dalit organisations and various civil society groups see it as "dilution" and accuse the Narendra Modi government of conniving in the case.
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MP: BJP leader arrested for raping party member, expelled
Sidhi (MP) (PTI): A BJP leader from Sidhi district in Madhya Pradesh was arrested on Tuesday on charges of raping a woman leader and extorting money, police said.
The BJP immediately expelled him from the party after he was arrested.
The FIR stated that the victim, also a BJP leader, was allegedly raped under the pretext of giving her a party ticket. The accused allegedly filmed the video of the incident and used it to extort money.
The accused, Ajitpal Singh Chouhan, also threatened to kill the woman's husband and forced her father-in-law to give money by showing him the obscene video, the FIR stated.
Chouhan was booked on January 13 under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) sections 64 (1) (rape), 308 (5) (extortion by putting someone in fear of death or grievous hurt), 296 (obscene act) and 351 (3) (criminal intimidation).
Sidhi district BJP president Dev Kumar Singh expelled Ajitpal Singh Chouhan from the primary membership of the party.
