In an incident of caste-discrimination, a Dalit man on Tuesday, June 9, was refused a haircut in Rajasthan’s tonk district.

According to reports, he has also hurled casteist abuses when he visited a shop in Dangarthal village in Niwai in Tonk.

Taking cognisance of the incident, police booked three people and an FIR has been filed against them.

The Indian Express reported that the incident took place when the Dalit man, identified as Kalu Harijan went to Nandkishore Sain’s shop for a haircut.

Reportedly, Sain demanded an exorbitant price for a haircut and when Harijan was willing to pay for the service, the upper caste barber refused to cut the hair, hurled casteist remarks and drove him out of the shop.

Sain was also the president of all hair salons in the village and warned Harijan that no other barber would take him as a customer.

An FIR has been lodged against Sain and his two sons under Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Anjum Kayal, circle officer, Niwai, said that they are investigating the matter. He also stated that the reason for the fallout needs to be ascertained whether it was over caste discrimination or over maintaining social standards.

‘The victim was misbehaved with only because of the fact that he is a Dalit. The state should come out with a separate budget to spread awareness against caste discrimination. It is extremely unfortunate that even today, a Dalit man ends up being roughed up and abused with casteist slurs simply because he went to get a haircut,’ said Tara Chand Verma, state coordinator, Rights Resource Centre.

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