 "Tribal Man Stripped, Hung Upside Down And Thrashed In Madhya Pradesh")
Bhopal:
A tribal man was stripped and brutally assaulted in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul, the second such incident that has come to light in the district this week. The victim runs a tea shop and said that the attackers kept asking him for ‘cut money’ while he was being beaten.
A video of the assault which has gone viral on social media, shows the victim hanging upside down from the roof. He was mercilessly beaten with belts and sticks.
“They, stripped me, tied me up, and then beat me with sticks, belts and slippers. I don’t know why I was being beaten, but they demanded money for the tea shop that I run with my father,” the victim told NDTV.
The incident took place in November, but the victim did not file a complaint out of fear that the attackers would harm his family.
“They had a gun, and I heard they one of them has also committed a murder, which is why I didn’t tell anyone. When the video went viral, I informed my elder brother that this had happened to me a few months ago,” he says.
Police have registered a case and hunt is on for the accused.
This distressing event follows another incident that took place in Betul recently, where another tribal man was beaten brutally.
On Monday, a tribal man was assaulted and made to pose as a “murga” in Betul. The victim was subjected to physical violence and casteist slurs by a group led by Chanchal Rajput, an alleged member of Bajrang Dal.
Raju, who works as a DJ, narrated the harrowing experience: “At around 11:30 pm, while I was on my way home, I was picked up near Subhash School by Chanchal Rajput and his Bajrang Dal friends. They assaulted me physically and verbally, and used casteist slurs against me.”
Official statistics though suggest a decrease in serious crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the state. According to data released by the Ajak branch of the police headquarters, there has been a 22% reduction in severe crimes against these communities from 2022 to 2023.
In 2022, there were 11,384 reported cases of crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, while in 2023, the number decreased to 11,171. Murder saw a decline from 140 in 2022 to 121 in 2023. Similarly, reported cases of sexual assault dropped from 996 to 883 during the same period.
The police have also identified hotspots for crimes against marginalized communities throughout the state. In 2021, there were 906 such hotspots, and by 2023, the number decreased to 566.
