A 14-year-old Dalit boy was allegedly tied to a pole and badly beaten in the Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka on Thursday, the police said on Saturday.
The police said that the accused thrashed the victim after suspecting him of having committed theft. According to the police, the boy was allegedly assaulted by a group of upper caste people around 9.30 pm on Thursday in Kempadenahalli village, 80 km from Bengaluru. This was recorded in a video by the villages and widely circulated later on.
Following the matter, 10 people have been booked under the SC/ST Act.
“A case has been registered under IPC sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (assault to woman with intent to outrage modesty), 355 (assault to dishonour person), 341 (wrongful restraint), 448 (punishment for false mark), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 149 (prosecution of common object) and under sections 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s) and 3(1)(z) of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act of 2015,” the police official said.
The FIR names 10 persons as the accused-Narayanaswamy, Naveen, Doddegowda, Harish, Ambika and five others-and states that they tied the boy to a pole and assaulted him.
Chintamani Rural Police have recorded the statements of the victim boy and his mother.
In another video shot by villager residents, the boy’s mother Rathnamma said that the accused broke into their home and dragged her son outside. When she questioned them, they attacked her too. “They beat him with chappals and thrashed me.”
“They asked us which caste we belong to and said that people of our caste shouldn’t live in their village and that we should all be killed,” said Rathnamma, who also said that the accused screamed casteist slurs against her family. She added that the accused boasted that they would not get into trouble for their actions, “They said no one can stop them.”
A video of the purported incident, which took place on the night of Thursday, September 29, was shot by villager residents and later shared online, following which the police took cognisance and registered a First Information Report (FIR) under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The FIR names 10 persons as the accused — Narayanaswamy, Naveen, Doddegowda, Harish, Ambika and five others — and states that they tied the boy to a pole and assaulted him.
In another video shot by villager residents, the boy’s mother Rathnamma said that the accused broke into their home and dragged her son outside. When she questioned them, they attacked her too. “They beat him with chappals and thrashed me.”
“They asked us which caste we belong to and said that people of our caste shouldn’t live in their village and that we should all be killed,” said Rathnamma, who also said that the accused screamed casteist slurs against her family. She added that the accused boasted that they would not get into trouble for their actions, “They said no one can stop them.”
Speaking to TNM, Chikkaballapura Superintendent of Police (SP) Nagesh DL said, “We have arrested three among the 10 accused and the investigation is ongoing.”
The Mother of the boy also said that she was not even aware of why they were beaten and treated so badly. Both mother and son are undergoing treatment in hospital at Chickaballapur.
