UP: Dalit man thrashed for denying free chicken in Lalitpur
A Dalit man was publicly beaten up with slippers for allegedly denying free chicken to the accused in Uttar Pradesh's Lalitpur, India Today reported on Sunday. A video of the incident is doing rounds on social media in which the victim, Sujan Ahirwar, could reportedly be seen pleading with the accused. The accused men were reportedly in a drunken state when they thrashed Ahirwar.
Here's what led to incident in Lalitpur
According to reports, Ahirwar, who goes from village to village on his bike to sell chicken, was approached by a group of inebriated men while he was traveling. He provided them with chicken as requested, but when he asked them to pay for the same, the accused reportedly thrashed him. A bystander captured the incident on his mobile phone, which has now gone viral.
FIR registered under SC and ST act: Police
Soon after the video went viral, Uttar Pradesh Police took cognizance of the incident. It registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the accused under relevant sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Recent incidents involving Dalit victims in UP
This development comes only a month after a Dalit man was reportedly assaulted and forced to lick the sandals of another man. The accused, who worked as an electrical lineman, was reportedly furious at the Dalit man for helping some villagers with electrical issues. Separately, a man in UP's Sonbhadra was arrested for allegedly urinating on a Dalit youth after an altercation last month.
Similar incidents in Madhya Pradesh
In a similar incident from neighboring Madhya Pradesh, a video of a man urinating on an alleged tribal laborer in Sidhi district went viral in June. The accused was arrested after MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took cognizance of it. Last month, two Dalit men were thrashed and forced to eat dirt in Shivpuri after some women reportedly accused them of harassment.
