Express News Service
MUMBAI: Four Dalit children were hung from a tree upside down and thrashed for “stealing goats and pigeons” in Srirampur in Ahmednagar district.
The videos of the incident have gone viral on social media platforms. The incident has been reported from Haregaon in Srirampur tehsil, reports said.
Prakash Ambedkar, president of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) said he spoke to the one of the victims and his grandmother over a phone call.
It is VERY IMPORTANT to recognize that such acts have occurred in the past in Maharashtra, exposing the troubling psyche behind caste discrimination and the lack of convictions in offences on SCs and STs.
My wife and I can only imagine what trauma the boys would have went…
— Prakash Ambedkar (@Prksh_Ambedkar) August 27, 2023
“The victim boy was thrashed, urinated upon, spitted on, forced to lick his own spit, stripped and hung upside down. The victims in the caste atrocity in Shrirampur, Ahmednagar are shaken and pleading for justice. I assured the grandmother that VBA and I will do everything to ensure justice for the victims,” Ambedkar said in a message on platform X.
Ambedkar said is it not Horrific. “This is what MY PEOPLE face everyday. This case is neither about caste discrimination nor relegation, abuse, humiliation, violence and brutality. Such acts have occurred in the past in Maharashtra. We need to expose the troubling psyche behind caste discrimination and the lack of convictions in offences on SCs and STs,” said Ambedkar, adding that he and his wife can only imagine what trauma the boys would have went through and what their parents must be going through.
He warned, do what is necessary in Shrirampur in Ahmednagar or else the VBA will launch a protest.
NCP Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule tagging Maharashtra home minister Devendra Fadnavis also took to platform X to express her shock over the incident.
धक्कादायक! संतापजनक!
हरेगाव, जि. अहमदनगर येथील लहान मुलांना झाडांना टांगून मारहाण करण्याचा हा प्रकार अमानवी आहे. हा घडवून आणणाऱ्यांना किमान माणूसकीची देखील चाड नसावी हे अतिशय दुःखद आणि दुर्दैवी आहे. महाराष्ट्रासारख्या प्रागतिक विचारांच्या राज्यात अशी कामे होतात कारण गुन्हेगारी… pic.twitter.com/bAKdnbeTB6— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) August 27, 2023
Shocking! Outrageous! Incident happened at Haregaon in Ahmednagar district. This kind of beating of children in Ahmednagar by hanging them from trees is inhumane. It is very sad and unfortunate that the perpetrators should not have even the least bit of humanity. In progressive minded states like Maharashtra, such activities are done because criminal attitudes have no fear of the law. This indicates that the house account in the state is inactive. The perpetrators of this crime must be severely punished. Strongly condemn this incident,” Sule said.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said that the brutally beating a boy for suspect of stealing pigeon is horrific and blot on humanity. He said BJP has been spreading hatred against each other community and that has reached to villages as well and this incident is result of BJP RSS hatred.
“BJP RSS has disturbed the peace and harmony of the society. They torn the social fabric by spreading hatred against each others. First, they spread hatred against Muslim and now dividing upper caste versus lower caste through their agenda and propaganda. BJP wants to encourage such vicious atmosphere and create riot like situations. These incidents are politically motivated because BJP wants to gain this disturbed atmosphere during elections. BJP is losing ground speedily therefore they are trying to use hatred but we strongly condemn such incidents,” Patole said.
Maharashtra revenue minister and BJP MLA Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil on his social media tweets that he visited the hospital and spoke to the boys and their parents. He said they have ordered the probe and that is underway.