A dalit man in Gujarat has complained that he was beaten up and forced to lick the shoes of a police officer in lock-up.
Harshad Jadav, 38, said he was made to lick shoes by DCP Himkar Singh but the police lodged an FIR against a constable instead of the DCP when he complained under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, according to a report by the Indian Express. A crime branch probe has been ordered in the matter.
Following the incident members of Dalit community held protests outside the police station. It comes at a time when dalits in the neighbouring Maharashtra are protesting against assault on them by right wing groups.
Narrating the incident, Jadav told the newspaper that he was taken to Amraiwadi police station and kept in lock-up in a case of allegedly assaulting a constable. “Sometime in the afternoon DCP Himkar Singh arrived and called me. He said how dare I hit a policeman, and then asked my ‘jaat’ (caste). A police officer from behind said that I was a Dalit, and that made the DCP angry. He asked me to fall at the feet of the constable whom I had pushed, and apologise. I did that. After that he asked me to lick the constable’s shoes and apologise,” he told the newspaper, adding that he was humiliated and had even though of committing suicide.
