The recent incident of a Dalit couple consuming pesticide and being assaulted by the police in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district is more horrific than the 2016 flogging of Dalits at Una in Gujarat, MLA Jignesh Mevani said on Saturday.
A Dalit couple allegedly consumed pesticide while a drive was underway to evict them from government land on Tuesday. A video of the incident showed some police personnel purportedly beating up the husband with batons, leading to a huge outrage.
The independent MLA from Gujarat has demanded that criminal cases be registered against police personnel involved in the July 14 incident.
"The Guna incident is more frightening than the Una incident in Gujarat. A five-month-old child of the victim couple was also pushed during the incident. What can be more inhuman than this?" Mevani asked. He said if the guilty police personnel are not booked, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government will face a backlash during the upcoming Assembly bypolls.
Mevani alleged that atrocities against Dalits have been on the rise since the BJP came to power in the state. "The attitude of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government is anti-Dalit and anti-farmer," he said.
Mevani, MP Scheduled Castes Commission member Pradeep Ahirwar, and state Congress secretary Kiran Ahirwar visited the spot of the incident and also the couple in hospital. Ahirwar said Dalits are scared in the wake of the incident. He demanded compensation for the victims Rajkumar Ahirwar (38) and his wife Savitri Ahirwar (35).
The state government had transferred Inspector General (Gwalior range), Guna collector and superintendent of police following the incident while six police personnel were suspended.
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