An incident of inhuman treatment of a sick Dalit elderly man came to light in the Shitala Mata temple of Kakori town of Lucknow. The victim was identified as Rampal, resident of Hata Hazrat Saheb, who is suffering from respiratory disease. Last Monday, Rampal was sitting in the temple courtyard, during which due to illness he accidentally urinated in the temple premises.
Angered by this, Swamikant alias Pammu, who is said to be a resident of Kakori, abused the old man and accused him of “desecrating the temple”. It is alleged that Rampal was made to urinate in the name of “purification of the temple” and then made the temple premises be washed with water. During this period, Rampal has also been accused of caste based abuses and assault.
After the incident, the victim Rampal reached Kakori police station and gave a written complaint and demanded justice. As soon as the police got information about the case, they took the accused into custody and started interrogating them. In the matter, ACP Kakori Shakeel Ahmed said that on the basis of the victim’s complaint, a case has been registered under relevant sections.
At the same time, local people and social organizations strongly condemned the incident and demanded strict action against the accused so that such incidents are not repeated in future. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav gave a sharp reaction in this matter. He wrote on ‘X’ – ‘Someone’s mistake does not mean that he should be given humiliating and inhuman punishment. Only change will bring change.
Allegation of inhuman treatment of Dalit in temple, politics started
Let us tell you that on the day of Diwali Lucknow An elderly Dalit man was allegedly forced to lick the ground near a temple after he was accused of urinating there. On the other hand, the grandson of a 60-year-old Dalit man has claimed that his grandfather had trouble breathing, and had accidentally urinated while coughing.
According to the police, the alleged incident took place around 7 pm on Monday evening, and the accused claimed that the Dalit man was forced to just lick the ground. Now this incident started a political debate and the opposition parties targeted the government.
In the complaint, Rampal Rawat said, “Yesterday evening, I was drinking water at Shitala Mata temple in Kakori area of Lucknow, when Swami Kant accused me of urinating. I said I had not urinated, and water spilled there.” The complainant told the police, “But, he (Pammu) did not agree and used casteist abuses at me. He threatened me and asked me to lick the urine.”
When Rampal Rawat’s grandson Mukesh Kumar was contacted, he told, “My grandfather has trouble breathing. If he does not take the prescribed medicines, he might not survive. Last evening he started coughing and accidentally urinated. After this, Pammu came there and started abusing my grandfather with casteist abuses.”
Mukesh Kumar said that his grandfather got scared and when he was asked to lick it, he licked the urine. He claimed that after this the accused got the place washed by Rampal. Grandfather did not tell anyone about this incident at night. He told about the incident today i.e. on Tuesday. “After this, we lodged a police complaint,” the grandson said.
Mukesh Kumar also said that the main temple was at least 40 meters away from the place where his grandfather had accidentally urinated. At present, a case has been registered against accused Swami Kant under BNS sections 115(2), 351(3) and 352 and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Act.
Congress’s allegations, police’s reply
In the post, Congress said, “In Lucknow, an RSS worker forced an elderly Dalit man to lick his urine. The elderly man was sitting in the courtyard of a temple when, due to illness, he accidentally urinated.” The party claimed, “An angry RSS worker reached the spot and forced him to lick urine while abusing him with caste-related abuses.” However, the police said that the accused has nothing to do with RSS.
Congress further said, “This incident that happened in BJP ruled Uttar Pradesh is a stain on humanity. Congress said, “This incident is a sign of anti-Dalit thinking of RSS-BJP. Hatred for Dalits is in his blood. That is why they want to abolish the Constitution and implement ‘Manuvad’ in the country, so that they can exploit people on the basis of caste.”
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