A 26-year-old Dalit man told the Petbasheerbad police on Sunday, April 13, that he was attacked by a group of dominant caste men in Hyderabad on March 26. The complainant, Tarun Kumar, belongs to the Scheduled Caste Madiga community. He alleged that his attackers used casteist slurs and videographed the assault demanding that he lick their feet.
“I am giving this complaint as I still feel threatened and am unable to stand due to these injuries,” Tarun Kumar wrote in his complaint.
His complaint stated that he had approached G Kiran Kadav, a resident of Gundlapochampally to mediate a divorce settlement between Kiran and Kiran’s wife Vinitha. Tarun knew Vinitha as he was friends with her sister Anisha. Following certain family disputes, Vinitha had filed for divorce in the Secunderabad family court.
However, upon changing her mind, Vinitha requested Tarun to mediate the issue as she was unwilling to proceed with the divorce. Tarun approached Kiran asking him not to sign the divorce papers, following which he was allegedly attacked by Kiran and five others on 26 March at 10:30 in the night.
After attacking Kiran, the accused allegedly abused him using casteist slurs and made a video of the attack demanding that Tarun lick their feet. Tarun further stated in his complaint that he came to know of the video much later as he was admitted to the CC Shroff Hospital in Kachiguda.
“Of the six accused, four including Kiran belong to the Yadav community, two are Gouds and one is a Muslim,” a police official from Petbasheerbad told TNM.
Yadavs and Gouds are classified as Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Telangana.
“Assistant Commissioner of Police K Ramulu is investigating the case. So far, we have apprehended five accused including Kiran,” the police official said.
He added that the sixth accused will be apprehended shortly.
The Petbasheerbad police have registered an FIR based on the complaint under Sections 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons or means), 352 (intentional insult with an intent to provoke breach of peace) read with Section 3(5) (criminal act is committed by multiple individuals in furtherance of a common intention) of the BNS, and Section 3 (1) (r) (s) of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.