A Dalit man in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district has filed a police complaint, alleging that an upper-caste Hindu smeared faeces on his face and body.
The accused has been identified as Ramkripal Patel, who belongs to the “Other Backward Class,” considered higher than the Dalits in the Hindu hierarchy.
The complaint was lodged by Dashrath Ahirwar on Saturday, and he named Ramkripal Patel as the perpetrator of the heinous act.
According to media reports, the incident took place while Ahirwar was engaged in constructing a drain in Bikaura village. Patel, who was bathing at a nearby pump, came into contact with the grease Ahirwar was using in the construction work.
In response to the accidental touch, Patel allegedly filled a mug with excretion from a nearby drain and smeared it on Ahirwar’s face and head.
“I had some grease on my hand and by mistake that grease got smeared on Patel. After that, Patel brought human faeces lying nearby in a mug he was using for bathing and smeared it on my body including head and face. I filed the FIR the next day since I was busy with work,” Ahirwar told local media according to the Indian Express.
Disturbingly, the incident occurred weeks after a video surfaced on social media showing an upper-caste Hindu, purportedly linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), urinating on a tribal man in Sidhi district, which sparked outrage across the state.
According to Ahirwar, he attempted to seek justice by reporting the incident to a panchayat (local council), but instead of finding support, he was fined Rs 600. However, the police have offered a different version of events, stating that Ahirwar was “playing” with others when he accidentally put grease on Patel’s hand.
Nevertheless, the police acknowledged that faeces were thrown on the Dalit man’s back.
Taking cognizance of the gravity of the offence, the police have detained Ramkripal Patel based on the complaint.
Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Manmohan Singh Baghel has stated that a case is being registered against Patel under Sections 294 (punishment for obscene acts or words in public) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
