[dropcap]C[/dropcap]lose on the heels of the report of a Dalit sugarcane worker being burnt to death in Chincholi Sindphana, Maharashtra (Jan. 11), comes the news of a Dalit woman paraded naked in Mulgaon. There are, I am sure, many incidents that go unreported due to the fear of the victims. In spite of crimes against Dalits being reported in the national media, atrocities against them continue. This shows the fearless attitude of the so-called upper castes. The police’s refusal to entertain the complaints of Dalit victims is typical. It is they who should be punished for failing to perform their duty. The offenders should be given deterrent punishment.The gruesome incident shows how deep-rooted the caste system is. Although there are laws prohibiting untouchability and atrocities on Dalits, such incidents continue to happen. As long as people do not change, it is impossible to eradicate the social evil. Our country, it appears, will never see any social change. The humiliation of the 42-year-old Dalit woman is something all of us should be ashamed of. The offenders should be given stringent punishment. Incidents like these deserve the immediate attention of the state. The attack was both gender and caste-based. The plight of the Dalit sugarcane worker who was burnt to death and the woman who was paraded naked is not something we should read about and forget. The state of the homeless, landless and illiterate Dalits is the same as it was centuries ago. They remain slaves of independent India. All talk of their uplift by politicians is a tamasha. The news that a 42-year-old Dalit woman was beaten, stripped and paraded naked by five persons belonging to an upper caste at Mulgaon village in Maharashtra was shocking. The fact that such barbaric incidents continue to occur even in this age is a blot on civilised society. The increasing attacks on Dalits and other underprivileged sections is a grim pointer to the fact that mental barriers that divide and discriminate people on the basis of narrow considerations such as caste and creed need to be demolished in order to attain an egalitarian society. It is not enough to arrest the perpetrators of the Mulgaon shame. They should be given stringent punishment which serves as an effective deterrent.
A Dalit woman was allegedly stripped and beaten mercilessly by members of an upper caste family in Mulgaon village, Satara district, on Monday. The reason? Her son was having an affair with a girl from their family.The victim is a 42-year-old widow and lives with her 21-year-old son in Mulgaon village. Both work as labourers, and belong to the Matang community. What is that woman’s fault? Why the society is still so conservative?
Several weeks ago, her son had an affair with the upper caste Maratha girl, and the couple had disappeared from the village for the past two weeks. The girl’s father, Krishnat Desai, kept inquiring with the mother as to the whereabouts of her son. About 15 members of the Desai family approached the victim while she was fetching water from the common village well. There they allegedly beat her with shoes, stones and sticks, and then, after stripping her,dragged her to a tree in the village, tied her up, and started beating her again. This was happening for almost two hours, and the police did not file a complaint on that day.
Dalit Mahasangh activists took the victim to a hospital in Karad. The Patan police arrested two men and three women from the Desai clan, as per the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. But where are these so-called Dalit leaders? There are many such cases go unreported due to fear, oppression and poverty. Even today we the so-called civilized people fight over reservations and quota by politicizing every issue but forget to strengthen the basic structure of this society. We need to be given dignity to human life. that’s it perhaps few people can notice that unsocial activities are also happening in this very state too, that doesn’t mean we would brand it as an unsocial state and reject its people, what I want to say is let a person be from any of such region comes to our region don’t try n give him the impression that just because he is from there he is too that much unsocial etc without knowing him, There are more such feelings in this region than in any other region and that too is spread by some highly literate (so-called educated) people, well such thing would spoil the very idea of freedom in our own country.
“Honor killing” and other such atrocities go on because of anachronism in Indian society. The younger generation wants “Western independence” in choosing the mates but continue to show “Oriental dependence” on family support for all other necessities of Life. Most families, except the open-minded ones, still believe that marriage means family alliance and not merely two individuals signing the wedding register. Until the younger generation becomes independent and autonomous in all aspects of their lives like their Western counterparts, such atrocities will unfortunately continue. These kind of atrocities against the so-called lower caste women is a testament to the fact India is still in dark ages. Living in fear is a consequence of poverty, fear to one’s life and that of their kith and kin. This happened in the same hometown of the chief minister!! Shame on the chief minister. He should instruct the police to apprehend the criminals.
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