The FIR was lodged on August 16 on the basis of a complaint from Meghwal community.
Nearly a fortnight after several Dalit families of a village in Rajasthan’s Barmer district were allegedly ostracised by upper caste people, they have moved the court, requesting police protection and arrest of the accused. Police said two of the 15 accused named in the FIR have been arrested so far. The FIR was lodged on August 16 on the basis of a complaint from Meghwal community.
According to residents of Kaludi village, a dispute broke out Meghwal and Rajpurohit communities after a complaint was filed against two upper caste boys for allegedly making casteist comments on social media. Thereafter, the villagers alleged, 70 families of Meghwal community were ostracised. “We have moved an application in the court, seeking police protection as we fear that after police arrests the persons named in the FIR, we might be targeted by their kin,” said Dinesh Meghwal, who filed the second FIR and moved the application in court.
A fact-finding team from Dalit rights outfits visited the village and after speaking to residents, submitted a memorandum to the collector and SP, urging them to take strict action against the accused. Vikram Singh Bhati, circle officer, Balotra, said, “So far two people have been arrested. The situation in the village is peaceful and we have deployed forces to prevent any untoward incident.”