MUMBAI, August 2, 2015
Eleven Scheduled Caste Buddhist families at Ansurda village in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra have been attacked by upper caste men as they decided to boycott the August 4 gram panchayat elections in protest a social boycott on them.
In a report headlined “Dalit families in Maharashtra want to relocate” in The Hindu, June 5, the families had demanded that they be relocated because of the social boycott and threat of physical violence. The social boycott started after they took out a procession to mark the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar on April 28 and played songs dedicated to the Dalit icon.
A few weeks after the police protection given to them was lifted, the Dalit households were attacked on Friday night. Six of the injured have been admitted to a hospital in Osmanabad for treatment.
District Collector Prashant Narnaware and Superintendent of Police A.B. Trimukhe have sought a report on the attack.