Dalit man, 11-year-old cousin entering garba venue sparks attack in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: A 20-year-old Dalit man on Sunday filed a complaint with Kheda town police, alleging that members of the Thakor community in his village attacked him and other members of his community because he entered a garba venue.

The 20-year-old Dalit man, Jitendra Parmar, a resident of Sanakhurd village in Kheda taluka, had taken his 11-year-old cousin to the garba venue, which allegedly sparked the assault.

Jitendra, who works for a pharmaceuticals company in Kheda, in his FIR said he had gone to the garba at Mahakali Chowk in the village on October 24.

“At around 1.30am on October 25, I was doing garba alone and there was nobody around me. The accused – Naresh Chauhan, Arvind Chauhan, Vijat Chauhan, Amrut Chauhan and Ramesh Gohel, all members of Thakor community – came to me and began abusing and harassing me,” Jitendra said.

He said that they subjected him to caste-based slurs and beat him up for entering the venue.

“They kept asking who had given me permission to enter their garba. When two members of my community tried to rescue me, the accused assaulted them as well,” said Jitendra.

He said one accused threatened to kill him if was seen at a garba again.

Jitendra’s uncle, Rajendra Parmar, said his 11-year-old daughter was also rebuked and subjected to caste-based slurs.

“This is not the first time we have suffered an atrocity. In 2018, a Dalit boy was attacked for having a meal with boys of other communities during a marriage event,” Rajendra said.

He said Dalits are not allowed to attend social or religious events in the village.

Kheda police registered a case for unlawful assembly, causing hurt and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code along with charges under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

According to an Right To Information Act (RTI) application filed with the state government by an activist, Kaushik Parmar, of the 129 villages in 12 districts that were given police protection in 2022 after offences under the Atrocities Act, Kheda accounted for 68, more than half.

Courtesy : TOI

Note: This news piece was originally published in timesofindia.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Right