A 44-year-old Dalit man, a resident of Sonda Habibpur village in Bulandshahr, was allegedly forced to lick his own spit in public because his son married a girl from a different faith. The police have registered a case at Khurja Nagar police station and arrested two persons so far.
Shri Krishna, a labourer, said his 21-year-old son Shivkumar fled with Razia (18), a resident of the same village, on June 6, after which her family approached the police.
On June 19, Mr. Krishna managed to locate the duo in Delhi and brought them back to the village. “The girl was produced before the court where she insisted that she went with Shivkumar of her own will and wanted to be with him,” he said.
With the court's permission, the couple got married the same day. Mr. Krishna said though he was angry with the couple, he was concerned for their safety. “Here, a man cannot marry a girl from the same village. She was also from a different religion. I told my son to leave the village, else someone would kill him,” he said, adding that the couple left the village immediately.
On June 26, Mr. Krishna’s brother received a call asking him to bring the boy's father before the panchayat as the girl’s family wanted to settle the matter.According to Mr. Krishna, when he went with his two brothers to the spot, he realised that no panchayat had been called. "There were about 100 people, mostly locals from the upper caste and the family members of the girl,” he claimed, adding that he and his brothers were tricked into going there.
Next, when he sat on a chair, his ears were allegedly pulled by a local leader who asked him to sit on the ground. “I was told to lick my own spit. When I didn’t do it for a few seconds, they thrashed me. I finally did it,” Mr. Krishna said.
He was then asked to leave the village with his family or face dire consequences. “When I refused to leave, they started beating me again until two persons came to my rescue and took me away around 15 minutes later,,” he said.
Mr. Krishna has now left the village and is staying near the police station. His family is still in the village though it has been given police protection. “I am scared I will be killed if I go back,” he said.
Case under SC/ST Act
Senior Superintendent of Police Bulandshahr, Krishna Bahadur Singh, said a case has been registered under relevant sections of the IPC and SC/ST Act. “Five persons identified as Bhura Khan, the girl’s father, Narayan Solanki, Khillu, Kuldeep and Vishnu are accused in the case. Bhura Khan and Khillu have been arrested. Further investigation is under way,” he said.