INDIA: Caste prejudiced police officers beat up an 11 year old dalit boy

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner the People’s Vigilance Committee for Human Rights (PVCHR) in Uttar Pradesh regarding the alleged police attack upon a dalit boy. The responsible police officer, at first, inquired about the name and caste of the boy and as he came to know that the boy belongs to a dalit family, the police officer allegedly began to beat him up badly. Due to the brutal assault the boy became seriously injured and he had to undergo medical treatment. Despite several complaints, no case has yet been registered against the police officers. 

CASE DETAILS:

Pavan Kumar, aged 11, son of Kallu Sonkar, is the resident of Shankarpur village, Chaubepur police station, Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh state, India and belongs to a dalit family. Pavan Kumar is a student of class 6 in Mahatma Budha Shikshan Sansthan situated at Gaura Kala village in Varanasi district.

According to the information received, on 16 March 2007 at about 9:15 am, it was recess time in the school and Pavan went out of the school campus for easing himself. At the same time the Sub Inspector of Chaubepur police station Mr. Devendra Singh accompanied by a constable Mr. Ramashrya Chaurasia approached Pavan and asked his name and caste. Pavan told them his name and that he belongs to the Khatic community .

However, having heard this, the Sub Inspector Mr. Devendra Singh started abusing the boy indicating his caste by using filthy language and ordered the constable Mr. Ramashrya to beat Pavan. Then Mr. Ramashrya and Devendra Singh started to beat the boy badly with stick. When the boy fell down on the ground Mr. Devendra Singh kicked Pavan on his chest. As a result of this brutal assault Pavan began to bleed through his mouth and nose and fainted. Then both police officers went away leaving the seriously injured boy behind.

After this brutal incident of assault, Pavan was taken to local doctor for medical treatment but the doctor refused to give medical treatment seeing the serious condition of Pavan. Then Pavan was taken to District Hospital Kabirchaura, Varanasi for medical treatment.

The family members of Pavan complained to the Police Superintendent (Rural) of Varanasi district and to the Senior Police Superintendent of Varanasi about the incident and also went to Chaubepur to register the case against the perpetrators but no case has yet been registered against the perpetrators till the date.

Meantime responsible police officers are allegedly threatening the family members that they will be implicated in false cases if they did not keep quiet about the incident.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Varanasi and other districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh are highly divided on the basis of caste prejudices. The police department and other government institutions are not immune to this social menace. Caste prejudices of police officials is the reflection of deep rooted caste based discrimination and practices in the society. Police atrocities and police inaction based of caste discriminations are rampant in Eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Police is enjoying absolute impunity in the area because they are not brought to justice for their denial of constitutional obligations and for their crimes. According to the Indian Constitution any discrimination based on caste and prejudicial practices is a crime but hardly any case is registered in this respect against the responsible persons or officers. It is a crime to ask the caste of a person and behave against a lower caste person discriminating the person in any form. Despite this in Eastern Uttar Pradesh it is very common to ask a person his or her caste and then decide how to treat the person.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the relevant authorities listed below calling for an immediate investigation into the alleged case of assault by police officers upon the innocent boy of the dalit community. Responsible police officers must be suspended immediately from active service to ensure impartial investigation. The AHRC is also writing to the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance calling for an intervention in this case.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER