Uttarakhand is reeling under shock wave in the aftermath of the gory incident of a Dalit being hacked to death by a teacher in Bageshwar on Thursday. A Dalit-led organisation Aaradhana Gramin Vikas Kendra Samiti staged a protest in Dehradun on Friday and served a memorandum to the Governor through the office of the Dehradun District Magistrate Ravinath Raman. The outfit members demanded exemplary punishment for the teacher to stop recurrence of such a crime against the weaker section of the society.
Notably, enraged by a Dalit touching the flour meant to be consumed by the upper caste persons at a flour-mill, the primary school teacher lalit slashed his throat with a sickle. The teacher was later arrested under sections 302 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code and SC/ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act and was sent to Almora jail, said Bageshwar SP Sukhveer Singh.
Around 35-year-old Dalit Sohan Ram, working as a labourer in his village, Kardiya under Kanda police station, died after his throat was slit allegedly by the teacher working in a neighbouring village.
The teacher was enraged over the flour being rendered 'impure' by the touch of the Dalit. Heated altercation ensued with lalit's father Ghanshyam and brother Anand joining in.
Ram protesting against the humiliation being hurled on his community, the teacher, in a fit of wrath, slashed the Dalit's throat with a sickle. He succumbed on the spot.
Daulat Kunwar, the leader of Aaradhana Gramin Vikas Kendra Samiti, said that the outraged Dalit community would not be satisfied by anything short of capital punishment for the accused teacher. He also demanded immediate financial assistance of Rs 2.5 lakh to the deceased's family members. "We would intensify stir in the coming days over the issue if their demands are not addressed soon," Kumar warned while talking to the reporters after the memorandum was served to the Governor through the DM.