Police in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have arrested a man for urinating on a tribal worker in public.
Pravesh Shukla has been charged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act – a law meant to protect historically oppressed communities.
He was arrested after a video, which shows him assaulting the man, was widely shared on social media.
The incident has sparked outrage in the country.
Shukla or his family have not commented on the incident.
Some politicians of the main opposition party Congress have alleged that Shukla is associated with the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) – which is also in power in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP has denied the allegation.
The police also refused to comment on the allegation, saying that the “facts of the case need to be first investigated”.
Despite laws that protect them, discrimination against tribespeople remains a daily reality for them and other people belonging to lower castes – thought to number around 200 million.
In the video, which was first circulated on Tuesday, Shukla can be seen smoking a cigarette as he urinates on the man’s face who is sitting on the road. Reports say that he was drunk at the time of the incident.
As the clip went viral, several people demanded Shukla’s arrest.
“This incident has put entire Madhya Pradesh to shame. Strictest punishment should be given to the guilty person and atrocities on tribal [people] in Madhya Pradesh should be stopped,” Kamal Nath, a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, tweeted on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also expressed his outrage and said the administration would impose the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against him.
Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Abbas Hafeez alleged that the accused, Pravesh Shukla, has ties with BJP lawmaker Kedarnath Shukla.
Mr Hafeez also shared photos which show the two of them together.
Mr Kedarnath Shukla, however, denied the allegations and said that he had no idea who the accused was. “When I go out in the constituency, there are many people who come with me. I attend so many programmes. He is not a BJP member,” he said.
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19 June 2018
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