FIR against six for allegedly denying water to Dalit woman officer in Uttar Pradesh

An FIR was registered against six people, including two village heads, for allegedly denying drinking water to a Dalit woman officer in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi district on Thursday.

The officer, Dr Seema, serving as a deputy chief veterinary officer, was allegedly denied drinking water because of her Dalit identity in Ambawa Poorab village of Manjhanpur block on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Dr Seema (she goes by this name) submitted a complaint to the district magistrate, Kaushambi, Manish Kumar Verma, who directed SP (Kaushambi) Pradeep Gupta to lodge an FIR against six persons.

The police lodged the FIR under SC/ST Act against head of Ambawa Poorab village Shiv Sampat, Pankaj Yadav, the husband of Bhaila Makdoompur village head, Saibasa village head Ansar Ali, district panchyat member Jhallar Tiwari, district panchayati raj officer Ravidutt Mishra and Rajesh Singh at Manjhanpur police station.

According to the SP, the matter is being investigated and stern action would be initiated against those found guilty.

Dr Seema said she had gone to the village on the directions of the DPRO to review development projects. She said she was not given water for two-and-a-half hours despite she being a diabetic.

In her complaint, she claimed that they behaved very abnormally with her and when she asked for water, she was denied the same by six people sitting there.

In the complaint, she has claimed that she is a diabetic and that her arms and limbs started trembling, forcing her to leave the place.

As per reports, the officer alleged that when she sought water from the villagers, the village head Sampat and the DPRO gestured them to not give her the same.

On Thursday, village residents staged a protest against the FIR claiming that the statement given by the woman officer was false as Sampat himself was of scheduled caste and hence, there was no question of denial of water by him to the officer.

Despite repeated attempts, Kaushambi DM Manish Kumar Verma could not be contacted for comments.

First Published: Aug 03, 2018 00:33 IST