Madhya Pradesh: Dalit Youths Falsely Accused Of Molesting Girls Thrashed, Six Arrested

The BJP has accused the Congress of practising minority appeasement as the latter did not talk about the issue at all.

Two Dalit youths were beaten up by members of a minority community in Varkhadi village, Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh, on suspicion of molesting and filming some girls. According to the police, the incident occurred on June 30 and a case has been registered against seven people, including two women. Six of the accused have been arrested. Police outpost in-charge Deepak Sharma stated that the allegations of molestation against the two men were found to be false during the investigation. The duo had only spoken to some girls in the village over the phone and had not met them in person, according to Sharma.

The police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The arrested individuals were identified as Ajmat Khan, Arif Khan, Shahid Khan, Islam Khan, Raeesa Bani, and Saina Bano. The search for one more person is currently underway. The accused allegedly bashed the two men, blackened their faces, garlanded them with shoes, and paraded them in Varkhadi on Friday

Sharma mentioned that the accused claimed the two Dalit men were molesting girls in the village and secretly filmed them. They also alleged that the act was captured on CCTV cameras.

Vishnu Dutt Sharma, the president of the Madhya Pradesh BJP, condemned the incident and questioned the silence of the Congress, suggesting it may be due to their "appeasement policy". He further alleged that some members of the minority community involved in the attack forced faeces into the mouths of the victims, who belonged to the Jatav and Kevat communities. However, the police have not confirmed or denied the allegation. Vishnu Dutt Sharma further slammed the Congress for not addressing the issue, claiming that neither MP Congress president Kamal Nath nor Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh had tweeted about it.

Last week, when the video of a man peeing on a Dalit labourer, the Congress blamed the BJP and called for an end to atrocities against "tribals in Madhya Pradesh". Former MP CM Kamal Nath had said: "Madhya Pradesh is already number one in atrocities against the tribals. This incident has put the entire Madhya Pradesh to shame. I demand from the CM that the strictest punishment should be given to the guilty person and the atrocities against tribals in Madhya Pradesh should be ended."