India: Dalit activist thrashed, forced to drink urine over RTI query
Bhopal (India): A Dalit activist was allegedly beaten up and forced to drink urine, filled in a shoe by a group of seven people, who were angry with him for filing an RTI application on panchayat expenditures in a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior district.
The attack took place on February 23 and two accused have so far been arrested, Gwalior SP Amit Sanghi said. The victim, Shashikant Jatav, was referred to AIIMS Delhi with multiple injuries.
He has named seven people in his statement, police said, identifying the suspects as Asha Kaurav, Sanjay Kaurav, Dhamu, Bhura, Gautam, Vivek Sharma and Sarnam Singh. Jatav told police that he had filed a query under the RTI Act seeking expenditures by the Barhi village panchayat, which is around 30km from Gwalior.
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His application allegedly annoyed some panchayat officials, including the husband of Barhi’s sarpanch, who conspired and asked Jatav to visit the village on February 23. When he arrived, they allegedly beat him mercilessly and forced him to drink urine.
The complainant also has nine cases registered against him, said an officer.
