A Dalit boy was allegedly assaulted and made to lick the feet of an upper caste youth following a minor dispute in the Raebareli district of Uttar Pradesh. Police said eight people have been arrested in connection with caste-based discrimination.
A video has been going viral on social media in which the teenage boy is seen licking the feet of a youth sitting on a motorbike. In the video which is said to be recorded few days ago, the boy is also seen assaulted by a group of youths, who were students of a local school.
The victim, who is a resident of Jagatpur town had lodged a complaint with the local police saying that he was taken away to a secluded spot by a group of students on April 10 where he was thrashed and made to lick the feet of one of the accused persons – hailing from upper caste, police told IANS.
According to reports, the upper caste youths were angry with the Dalit teen following a dispute over a minor matter.
A senior police official in Raebareli told reporters, “Eight youths– all minors have been arrested and efforts are on to identify others.”
Condemning the incident, the opposition parties demanded stern action against the guilty. “Dalits are not safe in the state….the incidents of assault on the Dalits have been rising,” a Samajwadi Party (SP) leader from Raebareli said.
One of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also criticizes the UP government for failing to ensure the safety of the people from the Dalit community in the state, saying “Such incidents happen when the police fail to take action against the guilty people.”
