Dalit man forced to drink urine in UP: ‘They dragged him, kept saying whose backing do they have, govt is ours’
SSP Badaun, Ashok Kumar Sharma said the four accused, who were arrested Monday, have been sent to 14-day judicial custody and the then SHO of the Hazratpur police station has been suspended for not “acting swiftly” on April 23.
Unaware of the tension inside Ram Gulam’s house, Sultan grazes in the backyard under a hot summer sun. The white horse, with patches of black, is the sole witness of the April 23 assault on Sitaram Valmiki, Gulam’s 43-year-old son, allegedly by four upper caste Thakurs of Badaun’s Azampur Bisauriya.
A week later, on Tuesday, the family of 13 sat in grim silence — they have not been able to find Sitaram since morning.
An agricultural labourer, Sitaram had Sultan in tow when he had gone to harvest wheat on the family’s 10-bigha land on April 23, said his wife Jaimala.
According to the family, around 5pm, Vijay Singh, Pinku Singh, Shailendra Singh and Vikram Singh — Thakurs from the village — had approached Sitaram and asked him to harvest their 20-bigha land first. Sitaram had refused, saying he was unwell, they said.
“Enraged by his refusal, the Thakurs started beating Sitaram while hurling casteist slurs. They dragged him to the chaupal of the village, tied him to a neem tree, ripped his moustache and also forced him to drink urine,” Jaimala said.
Jaimala claimed she and her son Pramod (14) pleaded with folded hands to spare Sitaram, but the Thakurs would have none of it. They kept saying “…inka hai kaun, sarkar humari hai (whose backing do they have, the government is ours),” said Jaimala.