Strongly condemning the local BJP goons of village Chanunta of Tehsil Ramnagar for allegedly trespassing into the basti of poor SCs, molesting their women besides assaulting and humiliating them, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh, Chairman-JKNPP & former Minister today called for immediate arrest of the accused under relevant sections of IPC and other laws relating to atrocities on SCs and women. He said that 4-5 notorious youth of village Chanunta had been often trespassing into the premises of on SC basti and indulged in snooping, eve teasing and mis-behaving with the SC girls. “On 13th June, the notorious gangsters barged into the premises of SCs in a local basti of Chanunta and started misbehaving with the women. And when the latter resisted, the culprits allegedly tore off their clothes and molested them. The male members of the families of the said women who reached the spot objected to the misdemeanor of the said vandals and whisked them away. The said youth however returned back after some time carrying swords and tokas and attacked the inhabitants of the SC basti injuring several of them. The SC youth were thereafter threatened of dire consequences in case they reported the matter to police. But contrarily the criminal elements owing allegiance to BJP prevailed upon the police to register a false case on the poor SC youth and their families. The repeated requests however, of the SC women for lodging FIR against the criminals was not entertained by the Police at the behest of BJP leaders. And rather than booking the culprits, the Police booked the victims thereby providing the most glaring example of its sycophancy of the rich and the mighty and its victimization of the poor”, asserted Mr. Singh.
Seeking high level enquiry into the nasty episode, Mr. Singh insisted for constitution of SIT to probe all other cases of atrocities on SCs in Ramnagar during the past few years. He said that with around 24 untraced cases of mysterious deaths and murders mostly of SC community during 2015-18 period had earned the Ramnagar Police the most dubious distinction in notoriety. He said that in several cases, the dead bodies of poor SCs were found hanging with the trees or crushed to death in several remote areas of Ramnagar with all such cases having been closed as untraced or dubbed as suicides.
Urging for personal indulgence of the Lt. Governor into the atrocities against SCs in Ramnagar and other episodes of harassment, intimidation and persecution of poor and marginalized sections of the society, Mr. Singh cautioned to intensify the movement if the guilty were not punished at the earliest.