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MP: Home of man who urinated on tribal person partly demolished
A video of the urination incident involving Pravesh Shukla surfaced on Tuesday, following which the Opposition Congress asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government to use a bulldozer to demolish his properties
BHOPAL/REWA: Authorities in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district on Wednesday demolished a portion of a house belonging to 30-year-old Pravesh Shukla, hours after he was arrested and booked under stringent National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly urinating on a tribal man, officials said.
A video of the urination incident involving Shukla surfaced on Tuesday, following which the Opposition Congress asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government to use a bulldozer to demolish his properties.
“One-third part of the house, i.e. around 400 sqft, which was constructed illegally, has been demolished,” Sidhi sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Nilamber Mishra said.
Shukla was arrested around 2am on Wednesday after chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan issued strict directions to the police to book him under the stringent NSA. The accused is currently lodged in Rewa Central Jail.
“A viral video from Sidhi district has come to my notice...I have instructed the administration to arrest the culprit and take the strictest action and also invoke the National Security Act,” Chouhan had tweeted on Tuesday.
A case has been registered against the accused under sections 294 (obscene acts), and 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, an official from the CM’s office said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer said that the accused and his family members allegedly forced the victim tribal man to sign an affidavit, claiming that the video of the incident was fake.
The victim has corroborated Shukla’s claim that the incident took place in 2020, Sidhi additional superintendent of police Anjulata Patle said. The tribal man, who worked as a labourer, also told the police that when the video first surfaced on social media earlier this week, he was approached by the Shukla family.
“He said that under pressure from the accused man and his family, he signed an affidavit on July 3. He, however, confirmed that the video is not fake,” Patle said. “He said that another man who accompanied Pravesh tried to urinate on him first, but the accused stopped him and urinated on him.”
Patle said three more people were present with Shukla at the time of the incident. “We will also interrogate them,” he added.
On Wednesday, Shukla’s family opposed the demolition of their house, with a few members fainting in front of the bulldozer.
“Pravesh has been implicated in a false case. We are fearful of encounter of my son,” Ramakant Shukla, the father of the accused, said. “If he has committed any mistake, he should be punished but why did the administration demolish our ancestral property.”
The incident sparked a political row, with the opposition Congress claiming the accused had a link with the BJP, a claim rejected by the ruling party and its Sidhi legislator Kedarnath Shukla.
Talking to reporters, state Congress leader Arun Yadav presented a list of BJP office-bearers from Sidhi. In the list, Shukla was named as mandal vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) — the youth wing of BJP. Yadav also circulated a news report about Shukla’s appointment as a representative of BJP Sidhi MLA Kedarnath Shukla.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi termed the incident an “inhuman act”. “Atrocities on tribal brothers and sisters are increasing in the BJP rule. The entire humanity has been put to shame by the inhuman crime of a BJP leader in Madhya Pradesh,” Gandhi alleged in a tweet in Hindi. “This is the disgusting face and real character of BJP’s hatred towards tribals and Dalits.”
Senior BJP leader and state’s home minister Narottam Mishra said it did not matter which party the accused belonged to, adding the act was “heinous, condemnable and a blot on humanity”. “He has committed a heinous crime and he will not be spared at any cost. The demolition of illegal construction will take place,” Mishra told reporters earlier on Wednesday morning.
BJP state president VD Sharma, meanwhile, formed a committee led by president of Kol Welfare committee to probe the matter and submit a report in this regard.
Both the BJP and the Congress have been trying to woo the tribal community in the state ahead of the crucial assembly elections scheduled for later this year.
Madhya Pradesh has a dubious record among all Indian states in terms of number of cases of atrocities against members of tribal communities. According to 2021 NCRB report, Madhya Pradesh reported 2,627 cases of atrocities against tribals, which was 29% of the total cases reported in the country.
