Dalit woman, son assaulted during panchayat in UP; casteist slurs hurled at them

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A Dalit woman and her minor son were allegedly assaulted and subjected to casteist slurs by the representative of the gram pradhan and his companion here, a police official said on Wednesday.

The accused were identified as village head’s representative Santosh Yadav and his companion Sant Kumar Yadav, the official said.

Jai Shree and her son were allegedly harassed in full public view and locked out of their house in Kallapur Saraiharra village on Sunday, Superintendent of Police Akash Tomar told PTI.

According to police, the woman’s daughter had a court marriage on August 16 with a man from the same village, who also belonged to the same caste.

The couple got married with the consent of their families. However, the girl’s grandmother was not happy with the marriage and on her initiative, a panchayat was called, the SP said.

During the panchayat, Santosh and Sant Kumar publicly harassed the woman and her son, he said.

A purported video of the incident recorded by a bystander also surfaced on the internet, police said.

A case under sections of the Indian Penal Code and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was registered against the two at Nawabganj police station on Tuesday evening, the SP said.

The woman returned to her house after the lock was removed, he said, adding the inspector-in-charge of the area has been directed to provide security to the victim’s family.