Dalits face slurs,Delhi panel visits state village

Later the same day,however,some of the Dalits present at the scene went to police station and asked for protection for another marriage that was to take place two days later.

The wedding on February 20,Sunday,had a police team led by an inspector in tow as requested,accompanying the wedding procession that had come from Ahmedabad. As the procession passed,some upper-caste villagers shouted abuses and threw stones at the procession even though the police were present.

Shaken by the incident,the parties concerned conducted the wedding ceremony hurriedly. However,one of the visitors from Ahmedabad went and filed a case with the police under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989,naming five persons.

The police immediately arrested the five men,but a judge had granted them bail soon after.

Today,National Commission for SCs/STs member Raju Parmar visited Dhalgarwad along with senior police officers,district officer for the Social Justice Department and the collector and forwarded several recommendations after after hearing out the Dalits of the village.

Dhalgarwad has only one road that connects the entry to the village to the Dalit basti. All the Dalits who have to work outside the village or the children who go to school have to pass by the areas dominated by upper castes,Parmar said.

The first recommendation of the central team was that police presence be stepped up along this road so that no untoward incident takes place against Dalits. Secondly,the district administration has been asked to “find another path” through which the Dalits can reach their homes without having to pass through upper-caste areas.

The third recommendation is that the police appeal in the Gujarat High Court against the bail granted to the accused by a lower court as cases under the Atrocities Act are non-bailable and the accused cannot even be granted anticipatory bail.

SP Sandeep Singh,when contacted,said Parmar’s recommendations had been received and assured speedy implementation.