A Congress leader from Telangana has approached the National Scheduled Caste (SC) Commission demanding action, after a video of two Dalit men being ‘punished’ in Telangana's Nizamabad district went viral.
TPCC general secretary Bakka Judson met with National SC Commission member K Ramulu, and submitted a representation to him.
The letter outlines the incident that took place, and demands strict action against the accused, who was identified as local BJP leader Bharat Reddy.
"I have gone through social media and saw a heinous act against two people, identified as Rajeswar and Laxman by one BJP leader Bharat Reddy. After thoroughly going through the issue, I came to know that both of the victims had stopped and objected illegal transportation of gravel by the accused, from one place to another," the letter reads.
"For objecting to this and questioning illegal acts, Bharat Reddy punished them severely, assaulted them and made both of them stand in muddy water for three hours, and abused them in filthy language by using their caste name," it added.
"Therefore, I request authorities to take necessary action against the accused and protect Dalits by implementing the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the culprit, in the interest of justice," the letter demands.
The Congress leader and some party men also held a protest at the Ambedkar Statue near Tank Bund.
Victims missing
Meanwhile, the duo have gone missing from their homes, while the accused, is also absconding.
The video of the incident, which took place in Abhangapatnam village, shows a man holding a stick and threatening to cane two men as he hurls abuses at them.
He then forced them to enter muddy water and dip themselves repeatedly, even as they tell Reddy that what he was doing was wrong.
"Rajeshwar and Laxman have been missing since the FIR was filed. We spoke to their family members, who said that they had left for work on November 12, but did not return. A team has been formed to look out for the accused, and we will nab him soon. We are also making all efforts to trace the two victims," a police officer from the Navipet station told TNM on Tuesday.
The police suspect that the incident took place last month around the time of Dusshera festivities, but surfaced last week.
Nizamabad police commissioner Kartikeya visited Abhangapatnam on Monday and interacted with Rajeshwar's family, before visiting the mud water pond, where the victims were forced to take a dip.
The case has been registered under sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Section 506 (Criminal Intimidation) of the IPC.
The Telangana unit of the BJP has also dismissed allegations that the person in the video was a party leader.