Madhya Pradesh: Pandit beats up Dalit boy for picking almonds from puja plate

In a shocking incident of caste discrimination, an 11-year-old Dalit boy was allegedly beaten up by a Jain Temple pandit in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh.

A Twitter user shared a video of this incident and wrote that the Dalit boy was standing outside the Jain temple in Sagar and was beaten up by Pandit Rajesh Jain on suspicion of theft, then made bondage. Jain also told the police that he had picked almonds from the puja plate and kept it in his pocket.

According to the media reports, a case has been registered in Moti Nagar police station of the city under the SC-ST Act for assaulting the boy by taking him hostage.

The state police have been reporting many incidents of caste discrimination, especially the brutality against Dalits. The MP police registered a case against a government woman teacher for passing casteist slurs and thrashing a 16-year-old Dalit girl for allegedly sitting in the front row of the class.

Police said that the incident occurred at the Government High Secondary Girls School, Baidha, in the Singrauli district on August 2.

The teacher Jagriti Singh was booked by the police under sections 294, 323 and 506 of the Indian Panel Code (IPC) and also invoked two sections of SC/ST Atrocities Act -1989.

In another incident of caste discrimination in the state, a group of men attacked a Dalit wedding procession in the Rajgarh district. However, the procession was being taken out under police protection.

According to the media reports, some men of alleged upper castes had attacked Dalits for owing a horse and taking out the wedding processions in defence of the caste rules.

A case was registered against 40 people after the incident. They were booked under sections 146 (rioting) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. Police said that an SC/ST Act case was also registered in this matter.