MP: Dalit claims his face and body smeared with human excreta for touching OBC man with grease
Chhatarpur, Jul 22: A Dalit man has alleged that his face and body were smeared with human excreta by a man from another caste after the former accidentally touched him with grease in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
The accused has been detained based on the complaint, a police official said on Saturday.
Recently, the incident of a man urinating on a tribal youth in Sidhi district of MP caused a huge outrage after the video surfaced on social media.
A case is being registered against the accused Ramkripal Patel, who belongs to an OBC community, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, in connection with the Chhatarpur incident, a police officer told PTI on Saturday evening.
The victim Dashrath Ahirwar approached the police on Saturday, he said.
Ahirwar claimed the incident occurred when he was engaged in the construction of a drain for the Panchayat in Bikaura village, about 35 km from the Chhatarpur district headquarters, on Friday.
He said the accused, Ramkripal Patel, was bathing at a nearby hand pump.
Ahirwar claimed he touched Patel with the grease he was using in the construction work by mistake.
"After that, Patel brought human faeces lying nearby in a mug he was using for bathing and smeared it on my body including head and face," he claimed while speaking to reporters near Maharajpur police station.
He claimed Patel abused him on the caste line.
"I reported the matter to the panchayat and called for a meeting. Instead, the panchayat imposed a fine of Rs 600 on me on Friday," Ahirwar alleged.
Queried why he didn't lodge a complaint with police on Friday, Ahirwar claimed he could not have abandoned the work midway.
"A case is being registered against Ramkripal Patel under sections 294 (punishment for obscene acts or words in public) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes (prevention of atrocities) Act," Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Manmohan Singh Baghel said.
Baghel said when Ahirwar was working with others, they were joking with Patel who was bathing nearby.
"They were hurling things at each other playfully when Ahirwar put grease on Patel's hand. Thereafter, Patel picked up human excreta with hand and threw it on Ahirwar's back," the police officer said.
Ahirwar approached the police on Saturday with a complaint, Baghel said.
Queried on Ahirwar's claim on Panchayat, Baghel said he didn't have any information.
Police said the accused and the victim are in the age group of 40 to 45.
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Have spoken with Railways, Dadar Hanuman temple won’t be demolished: BJP leaders
Mumbai, Dec 14: A day after Uddhav Thackeray slammed the BJP over a demolition notice issued by the Railways to a temple outside Mumbai’s Dadar station, ruling party leaders claimed on Saturday that they have got it stayed.
BJP legislator Mangal Prabhat Lodha said the Dadar Hanuman temple will be protected.
Lodha visited the shrine near Platform No. 12 at Dadar East, adjacent to the Central Railway station. He interacted with the temple trustees and joined the ‘aarti’.
MLA Kalidas Kolambkar and members of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad were also present at the temple.
Lodha said he had spoken with Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and an order has been issued to halt the demolition.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Thackeray on Friday claimed that Railways had issued a ‘fatwa’ (edict) to bring down the 80-year-old Hanuman temple built by porters. Taking a dig at the BJP’s “ek hai to safe hai” slogan, he said even temples are not safe in the saffron party’s regime.
After his temple visit, Lodha, who represents the Malabar Hill assembly constituency in the city, told reporters that the BJP-led governments at the Centre and Maharashtra listen to the concerns over Hindutva and that of the people.
“We understand the sentiments of the Hindu community regarding this temple, and I assure you that no harm will come to this sacred place. Since we learnt about the situation, BJP leaders, and Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers have all been in contact with railway minister Vaishnaw,” he said.
The BJP leader said they have made every effort to protect the temple and would continue to do so.
“Any attempt to politicise religious sentiments has been thwarted before it could succeed, and we have successfully saved the temple,” he asserted.
In a notice dated December 4 to the trustee/pujari of the temple, the Railways said the structure was an encroachment and constructed without authorisation on land owned by it.
These structures are affecting the movement of commuters and vehicular traffic. It is also obstructing the construction of infrastructure works at Dadar station, it said. The Railways had given a seven-day notice for the removal of the structure.
Lodha said the notice has been stayed.
His party colleague and former MP Kirit Somaiya also visited the temple. He told the trustees that the railway officials had assured him the temple wouldn’t be demolished.
Attacking Thackeray, Somaiya told reporters that those who put devotees of the deity in jail for chanting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ eventually have to surrender before Lord Hanuman, referring to the arrest of former MP Navneet Rana in Mumbai two years ago.
“He has accepted Sajjad Nomani, Ulema board, Marathi Muslim Seva Sangh and ‘vote jihad’ and should stay committed to them,” Somaiya said.
Meanwhile, former Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale said he has written to Vaishnaw citing that a similar notice was issued a few years ago and was stopped after his intervention. He urged the Union minister to find a permanent solution to the matter saying that the temple is very popular among locals.
