Lucknow: A borewell owner and his son who were booked for beating up a Dalit woman in Banda, Uttar Pradesh, for drawing water from their borewell first hurled casteist slurs at her, hit her with a stick and then pushed the 42-year-old into a nearby field, her husband alleged Tuesday.
Responding to allegations of inaction, Jaspura police told ThePrint that the FIR was delayed because of the “preliminary inquiry” it conducted to ascertain the facts of the case. They also said the woman appeared for the medical examination Saturday, adding to the delay.
“My wife, with four other women and a man from Kumhariya Dera village, had gone to sow rice in the paddy belonging to Chandrashekhar Singh. The labourers water the fields using a borewell which belongs to Chandrashekhar’s brother Rajendra Pratap Singh. While on the job, she felt thirsty and went to drink water from the same borewell around noon on 6 August,” Puttu Sonkar, 44, told ThePrint.
According to him, as soon as his wife, Sita Devi, picked up a lota, Rajendra, who was sitting on a charpoy with his son Jitendra Pratap Singh near the borewell, got up and chastised her for touching the water container.
“He told her that she could not pick up the container or drink from it because she belonged to a lower caste and started abusing my wife. My wife objected to it saying that she would clean the container and there was no need for him to abuse her. She told him ‘zyaada Thakurai mat dikhao apne bore pe’ (don’t resort to casteism at your borewell). At this, his son, Jitendra picked up a stick and hit her on the back. When my wife fought back, Rajendra held her by the neck and pushed her into a rice field,” he alleged.
Sonkar said he was given a portion of land to sow rice on a profit-sharing basis by Chandrashekhar Singh.
Rahul Pal, a resident of the nearby village of Sikahula, accused the police of delay in lodging the first information report (FIR), which was filed Sunday.
“They are the dominant Thakurs of the village and the aggrieved are poor farm labourers. The FIR was delayed by the police for four days after the first complaint was made,” he told ThePrint Tuesday. The police have said the FIR was delayed because of the preliminary investigation and the medical examination.
Also read: Why legacy of Purvanchal’s don-neta Hari Shankar Tiwari is at centre of SP’s Brahmin outreach
‘Has injuries on her back’
Sonkar alleged that Sita Devi suffered injuries on her back and was rescued by fellow labourers Suman and Shakuntala, who rushed to her aid when they heard her cries.
He said he also rushed to the spot to confront the father-son duo after he learnt about the incident.
“When I confronted them and told them that we would lodge a complaint against them, Jitendra said I could do whatever I want. I went to Chandrashekhar and told him about the incident and said I wanted to lodge a complaint against his brother. He said that I was the aggrieved one and was free to decide whether I wanted to complain or not. I then approached the local police station,” he alleged.
Jaspura SHO Moni Nishad told ThePrint, “We had conducted a preliminary inquiry to ascertain the facts of the case. The aggrieved party was called for a medical examination but they turned up late. The FIR was lodged a day after the victim underwent the medical examination.”
The FIR has been lodged under 115(2) (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Asked about further action in the case, SHO Nishad said that a police team visited the village Monday but the accused was still absconding.
Meanwhile, Sonkar said he is bound to face losses since his wife has not been going to the field since the incident. “We are going to face a loss of about Rs 14,000,” he said.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
Also read: SP-BJP slugfest over Ayodhya gangrape heats up as assembly bypolls loom