A Dalit man in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni district has alleged that he was brutally assaulted, urinated on, and subjected to caste-based abuse by a group of upper-caste men, sparking anger and drawing comparisons with earlier cases of caste violence in the state.
The attack reportedly took place on October 13 in Matwara village under Bahoriband police station limits, following a dispute related to the construction of a Gram Panchayat office.
According to officials, the altercation began when Rajkumar Chaudhary, a resident of the village, objected to the use of illegally mined gravel near his farmland for the Panchayat building. His objection allegedly provoked Sarpanch Ramanuj Pandey and three others — Ram Bihari Pandey, Pawan Pandey, and Satish Pandey who then assaulted him. In his complaint, Chaudhary claimed that the accused beat him and urinated on him while hurling casteist insults.
Katni Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Santosh Dehariya said that a case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. “Based on the victim’s statement, we have filed an FIR. Statements from villagers who witnessed the incident are being recorded since it happened in public view,” he said, adding that efforts were on to trace the accused.
The ASP also confirmed that before Chaudhary’s complaint, the sarpanch had lodged a separate case against him on the same day, accusing him of using abusive language and issuing threats. “Chaudhary went to the district hospital for treatment and then filed his complaint. Both cases have been registered and investigations are ongoing,” Dehariya said.
The incident has reminded many of the 2023 Sidhi district case, where a viral video showing a man urinating on a tribal youth sparked nationwide outrage and led to the demolition of the accused’s property. Rights groups have called for swift action in the Katni case, saying it reflects the persistence of caste-based violence despite strict laws intended to prevent such atrocities.
This story was originally published in muslimmirror.com.