In a horrific incident, a Dalit woman was allegedly stripped, beaten up, and urinated on her mouth by a moneylender and his associates in Bihar’s Patna district over some monetary dispute police said on Monday. The incident occurred in a village under the jurisdiction of Khusrupur police station in Patna on Saturday night.
The key accused, Pramod Singh and his son Anshu Singh, are absconding, a police officer said adding that a manhunt has been launched to arrest them.
According to police, the accused apparently assaulted the woman for complaining to the police about the moneylender’s “unjustified” demand for more money even after full repayment of the debt.
The injured victim, who is under treatment in a hospital, claimed that she had to bear this torture despite paying off the borrowed money with interest.
“My husband had borrowed Rs 1,500 from Pramod Singh a few months ago and had returned the money with interest. However, he continued to seek more money. We rejected the demand,” the woman said.
Pramod Singh allegedly threatened the victim over phone, saying they would parade her naked in the village if she didn’t give him more money. She complained to the police about this on her mobile phone.
“A police team visited the village on Saturday to inquire about the complaint, which apparently angered Pramod and his associates. They went to her house at around 10 pm on Saturday and forcibly took her to Pramod’s house,” a family member of the victim said.
There, she was allegedly disrobed and beaten up with fists and sticks.
“Pramod asked his son to urinate on my mouth. He did so. After that, I somehow managed to escape and returned home,” the woman said in a statement to the police.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Patna) Rajeev Mishra said a manhunt has been launched to arrest the absconding accused.
“We have formed five police teams and searches are being conducted. A case has already been registered in this regard and further investigation is on,” Mishra said.
‘Most Horrific, Dreadful case’
Reacting to the incident, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat called it the “most horrific and dreadful case.”
“What it really shows is a mirror to our society that whatever we talk about development and modernization processes, the reality of the caste system is so alive in India today that this kind of incident can occur also right in the capital of Bihar. So that is the impunity that these casteist forces have. And where do they get the impunity from? That is the issue. The impunity is because of the continuing defence of the caste system in the name of custom, tradition, and religion,” she told the news agency ANI.
Further quoting Dr BR Ambedkar, Karat said the annihilation of caste is the prerequisite for justice and development.
“Unfortunately, in India, we are not able to destroy the caste system the way any civilised society should,” she added.
(With PTI Inputs)
Comments
0 comment