Dalit man in Rajasthan accuses two of ‘unnatural sex, assault and urinating’ on him

The police, however, claimed an independent witness later denied knowledge of the boy being urinated on or of a video being recorded. “He also said that the boy did not tell him about unnatural sex, but only of assault,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Arvind Kumar, the investigating officer in the case, said.

According to the FIR, the Dalit man’s family was attending a wedding at the time of the incident. “When the DJ came near the wedding home, I too left my house to watch it. On my way, I was stopped by (the accused), who asked me to accompany them to the (bus) station for some work,” he alleged in the FIR, adding that the men were drunk.

“However, the men took me to a secluded spot outside the village and started abusing me,  using casteist slurs. They said that they wanted to kill my father, but since he is outside the country, it is your turn (to be beaten up). They started punching and kicking me, and hit me with a stick,” the FIR states.

The duo then allegedly asked him to remove his clothes.

“They had unnatural sex with me and urinated on me, of which they recorded a video. They hit me with a bottle of alcohol. (One of the accused) hit me on my back, arms, stomach and genitals with a stick,” he alleged.

Two others saw the duo assaulting him and tried to intervene, but the accused started abusing them too, the FIR states. The duo allegedly finally left him when he was “adhmara” (half dead), but while leaving, threatened to kill him and his family if he told anyone about the incident.

“They called me the next day and said that if I told anyone about it, they would make my videos go viral on the internet. However, when I had trouble urinating and relieving myself, I told my family. Both of them are of criminal nature, hence I am lodging this FIR accompanied by my family,” the FIR states.

The FIR has been lodged under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections for assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person, kidnapping or abducting, wrongful restraint, criminal intimidation, voluntarily causing hurt, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace as well as three sections of The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and one section of the Information Technology Act which deals with punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act, etc, in electronic form.

DSP Arvind Kumar said the investigation was on “and forensic and medical reports will make things clearer”.

“The two are known to the accused and live in the same village… The spot of the incident cited by the boy is a thoroughfare. He has claimed that he was assaulted for about two and a half hours — 11 pm to 1:30 am — but there are vehicles passing that spot every few minutes. It was night, but there are vehicles passing 24 hours,” he said.

The allegations, meanwhile, led to an outcry, with Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra saying, “The BJP’s slogan of ‘Sabka Saath’ is merely an election gimmick for Dalits; in reality, under BJP’s rule, they receive only humiliation, oppression, and injustice…The list of atrocities against Dalits in Rajasthan is continuously growing. Under BJP’s rule, the state of law and order in Rajasthan has deteriorated to such an extent that the cries of the weaker sections are no longer reaching the corridors of power.”

Incidentally, the claims went viral on a day when Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma was in Sikar as part of his three-day visit to the Shekhawati region. Former CM Ashok Gehlot said, “I hope that during his visit, he (Sharma) will visit the home of this Dalit youth who has faced such injustice and assure him that the government stands firmly with him.”

He also hoped that there would be strict action against officials in the police and administration for allegedly keeping the matter hidden for eight days.

Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully said. “The limits of brutality against Dalits have been crossed…This is not the story of some film; this is the reality of today’s Rajasthan. This barbaric incident is utterly shameful.”