16, Dec 2023 | CJP Team

In a disturbing incident took place in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district where a man identified as Vishal Sharma, allegedly made a revenge attack on three Dalit youth. According to The Mooknayak, the accused was previously involved in a dispute with the Dalit youth who hails from the Kasamda village in the state. Last month, following the initial conflict, one man named Vishal Sharma had been arrested by the police, however, upon his release, he reportedly kidnapped the Dalit youth along with three of his companions and recorded a video of the brutal assault that ensued. The police have taken action, registering a case against Vishal Sharma and his three associates involved in the abduction and merciless beating of the Dalit youth and his friends. Reports have suggested that the kidnapped boys may have been minors.

The Morena Police Superintendent Shailendra Singh Chauhan, after examining the video, reportedly instructed the Mahua police station’s Sub-Inspector to take prompt action against the criminals. Upon investigation, the police found that Vivek Sharma and his associates forcefully abducted the victims, Abhishek Sakhwar, Sanjay Sakhwar, Pankaj Kirar, and Rohit Sakhwar from the Kasamda village near Gohatti Talab in Kasamda, Morena district, and took them in their car and beat them.

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Whereupon, Mahua Station Incharge Dharmendra Malviya, along with the police force, reached the crime scene immediately and surrounded the culprits. Upon which, the accused left the victims and fled. The police brought the victims to the station for questioning. Based on the complaint of the victim Abhishek, a case was registered under sections 363, 294, 323, 506, 34 of the Indian Penal Code, and under sections of the SC/ST Act.

Mahua Station Incharge Dharmendra Malviya explained that as soon as the information was received, the police took the matter seriously and immediately formed a team for the arrest of the accused. The main accused Vishal Sharma, along with Vishvesh Sharma, Paban Khurasiya, and Jeetu Gudheniya, residents of Ambah, were arrested and presented in court, following which they were sent to custody.

This incident comes just a few days after MP new chief minister Mohan Yadav of the BJP was sworn in at a ceremony attended by PM Modi. The state has seen a long rule over the BJP, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan serving as the state’s longest serving chief minister. However, the state ranks as the third highest in the number of atrocities against Scheduled Castes. In the last five years, data by the NCRB reveals while there is an overall concerning trend nationally with crimes against Scheduled Castes seeing a 22% increase, climbing from 5,892 cases in 2017 to 7,214 cases in 2021. Thus, while Uttar Pradesh tops the list in the number of registered cases, followed by Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh stands to rank as third with the highest crime rate at 63.60, surpassing the national rate of 25.30.

Just last month, Morena witnessed another episode of violence against Dalits stemming from a dispute when several Dalit villagers, including women, were brutally attacked in a conflict triggered by tree cutting. The altercation took place after members of the Parmar community arrived in the village to cut branches of a Ber tree and Dalit villager objected to this, leading to a violent attack with sticks and axes against him with attackers hitting his head with an axe. A distressing video of the incident had similarly circulated on social media. The assailants even entered houses to assault people, sparing no one, including women, from the violence.

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