Akhilesh assures justice to Rae Bareli Dalit boy forced to lick feet of a man

The Dalit boy and his family had come to the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow on Tuesday. A Rae Bareli SP MLA, Manoj Pandey too came with the family. A Samajwadi Party statement said party president Akhilesh Yadav expressed sympathy to the family and assured justice.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday assured justice to the Dalit boy of Rae Bareli who was allegedly beaten up after abduction by some people and released only after he licked the feet of one of the accused.

Akhilesh said that the SP stood by people facing atrocities from those in power. (Pic for representation)

The boy and his family had come to the SP office in Lucknow on Tuesday. A Rae Bareli SP MLA, Manoj Pandey too came with the family.

In a statement released along with some pictures of the boy and his family with Akhilesh, the Samajwadi Party said: “The family has demanded running a bulldozer over the houses of the accused, security to the family, compensation and the boy’s admission in a Kendriya Vidyalaya.”

Shortly after the statement by the party, Akhilesh said in a tweet in Hindi: “In a democracy, true social justice means considering all sections equal and respect to all castes and classes without discrimination. There should not be a place of supremacy for any particular caste or class in a democracy. The SP is committed to equality rather than discrimination or exploitation in social relations”.

The party statement also said that the family narrated the inhuman behaviour the victim was subjected to and that Akhilesh Yadav expressed sympathy to the family and assured justice.

Akhilesh said that the SP stood by people facing atrocities from those in power.

Quoting the Dalit boy, the party said that the incident happened on April 10 when a fellow villager forcibly took the boy on his motorcycle to a forested area 5 km away and on gunpoint (crude firearm) he was forced to lick the feet of one of the accused. The boy was told that his ancestors were slaves. It was only after licking the feet that his life was spared. The accused themselves made the video of the incident.

The party also said in the statement that after the incident, the Jagatpur police pressurized the boy’s family for a compromise with the accused but when the locals gheraoed the police station, then the cops arrested five of the accused and registered a case against them under minor sections.

The main accused was absconding, it said.