ALLAHABAD: A
Dalit doctor in Kaushambi has alleged that three gram pradhans, a village development officer, block development committee member and a ' kotedar' (fair price shop owner) refused to provide her fresh potable water in a village where she had gone for inspection on Tuesday.
Alleging discrimination on the basis of her caste, the officer on Wednesday approached
Kaushambi district magistrate on whose directive an FIR was filed.
The accused have been booked under section 504 of IPC and section 3 (1)(R)(S) of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in Manjhanpur police station.
Dr Seema, deputy chief veterinary officer in Manjhanpur, was inspecting three villages, including Ambawa Poorab on Tuesday. She said the accused allegedly not only declined to cooperate with her in official duty, but also refused to provide her drinking water, police said.
"The complainant, Dr Seema, has claimed that she had gone to review development work on the directives of district panchayati raj officer. In Ambawa Poorab, she sought water from village head SS Pasi and other government officials. However, she has alleged they refused to give her water as she is a Dalit," inspector Manjhanpur Ajeet Pandey said.
She has also alleged that gram pradhans of Bhaila Maqdoompur and Badwa, too, declined to give her water. When she insisted, she was given contaminated water in a dirty utensil.
SP (Kaushambi) Pradip Gupta said, "We have registered an FIR and launched an investigation into the matter. DySP Manjhanpur is conducting probe."
Representative image
