A Dalit man in Bulandshahr district, UP, was allegedly made to spit and lick his saliva off the floor. He was forcefully asked to do this by the panchayat as a punishment after his son married a Muslim woman of the same village.
The incident happened on June 28, when 44-year-old Shri Krishna, groom’s father, a Dalit man was forced to lick his spit by some local villagers. According to the reports, the girl’s family blamed the 21-yr-old boy for eloping with their 18-yr-old daughter. The girl’s family took the matter to the panchayat after a court ruled in the favour of the adult couple.
The Panchayat announced the punishment and even asked the man and his family to leave the village. “When I refused to leave the village, some people started beating me again until two persons came to my rescue,” said Krishna to the Hindu.
“During a Panchayat meeting, I was asked to spit and lick my spit because my son married a Muslim woman. Panchayat also asked me to leave the village,” the victim said, reports the Deccan Chronicle.
“They said that my wife and daughter should be paraded naked,” he added.
Krishna also said that his son and the Muslim girl had registered their marriage in the court. He said that though he was angry with the couple, he was concerned for their safety.
According to The Hindu, he asked the couple to leave the village as he was scared they would come to harm. “Here, a man cannot marry a girl from the same village. She was also from a different religion. I told my son to leave the village; else someone would kill him,” he said.
According to PK Tiwari, SP Dehat Bulandshahr, both the boy and the girl are adults, and they decided to get married willingly, now the couple is happily settled out of the state.
He also told The Logical Indian that the police got the complaint from the Dalit man, a day after the incident. An F.I.R has been registered against five people. The father of the girl and one person from the panchayat are in police custody, and the remaining three are on the run, he said.
When asked about the incident, Tiwari said, initially, a scuffle took place among both the family members. The investigation is underway, and the police are trying to find the three people who are on the run.
As per reports, a case has been registered under relevant sections of the IPC and SC/ST Act.
The Logical Indian take
According to the law, If two adults decide to marry, then it is no crime, irrespective of caste, and/or religion. This incident is an attack on the dignity of the individual just because he is a Dalit. Even after 70 years of independence, we disregard and dismiss the rights of the individual because of caste and religion. It is us who need to make people aware of their rights and encourage them to take a stand on the centuries-old caste and religious divide. We urge the police to take strict action as per the law.
