UP: Blind tribal woman accused of making her vote for ‘lotus’, administration denies, FIR lodged when journalist made video!
The district magistrate had ordered an investigation; the woman alleged that the police and officials who came for the investigation threatened her; the sector magistrate filed an FIR and gave clarification, saying- “The person who made the video had made a fake video.”
Published on: 20 May 2024, 1:30 pm
Chitrakoot. In UP’s Chitrakoot district, an elderly blind tribal woman has accused the employees posted on election duty of making her vote for the BJP’s election symbol lotus. A local journalist came to know about this entire matter. He went to the elderly woman’s house and asked about the entire incident and made a video of it. The journalist posted the woman’s video on his social media account. The video went viral. In this case, the Sector Magistrate filed an FIR against the journalist.
Meanwhile, the District Election Officer ordered an inquiry. The elderly woman alleged that the officials had come to her house. They threatened to stop ration and made a video in their favour. The journalist obtained an affidavit from the woman, in which she has confirmed that the polling officials had made her vote in an unfair manner.
Sector Magistrate Parul Ahirwar posted on election duty says that the election was conducted with transparency. Its videography was also done. The Sector Magistrate has described the video made by the journalist as fabricated in the FIR. The Muknayak talked to the District Election Officer/District Magistrate regarding this entire matter. He kept avoiding saying anything in this entire matter.
The whole matter is of Deepu Kolan Kihuniya village of Manikpur tehsil of Chitrakoot district of UP. An elderly woman named Ratia lives in this village. The woman belongs to the tribal Kol caste. The fifth phase of voting is being held in Chitrakoot district today. The Election Commission has made a separate arrangement for the disabled and the elderly. Under this, polling parties go door-to-door and get such people to vote.
On 11 May 2024, under this, polling parties reached Deepu Kolan Kihunia village of Manikpur tehsil to conduct voting. During this, voting of elderly and disabled people was done. A video of Ratia, who lives in this village, has come on social media. This video is after the election officials conducted the voting. In this video, Ratia says- ‘I cannot see with my eyes, the election officials asked me to vote for ‘lotus’, I cannot see with my eyes, so I will walk on the path shown to me.’
The Muknayak spoke to Ratia to confirm the allegations. Ratia says- ‘That day I was lying on a cot in my house. Two persons came inside my house. My neighbor Rajji’s wife Sampat was also present with them. Both of them took me out of my house by holding my hand. While bringing me out, both the officials whispered in my ears to vote for the lotus. When I asked about them, who they are and where they have come from, they said that they have come to cast votes. I came out with them. Another person dipped the Swastika symbol in ink on my neighbor daughter-in-law Rajji and got her to stamp the lotus symbol. I told them that I want to mark the elephant, but they did not listen to me.’ Ratia has sent a complaint affidavit to the Chief Election Commission regarding the entire matter.
Ratia sent a complaint affidavit to the Chief Election Commission Photo – The Mooknayak
Rajji, who lives in Ratia’s neighbourhood, is her daughter-in-law. The Mooknayak spoke to her. Rajji says, “I was asked to cast Ratia’s vote. Ratia was present with me. She cannot see, I cast my vote for the lotus symbol as per the instructions of the officials. Whereas Ratia wanted to vote for the elephant.” Rajji has also sent a complaint affidavit to the Chief Election Commission.
Rajji sent a complaint affidavit to the Chief Election Commission Photo – The Mooknayak
Rajji’s video is also viral on social media, in which Rajji is saying – ‘Ratia was made to vote for the lotus. She was present during this time. Along with Rajji, the video of another woman Gudiya, who lives in Ratia’s neighborhood, has also been uploaded on social media. Gudiya also says the same thing that Ratia was forced by the officials to vote for the lotus by putting it in her ear. All these videos were made by local journalist Sachin Vandan Tripathi. He uploaded all these videos on social media.’ Gudiya has also sent a complaint affidavit to the Chief Election Commission.
Gudiya sent a complaint affidavit to the Chief Election Commission Photo – The Mooknayak
The Muknayak spoke to journalist Sandeep Vandan Tripathi. Sandeep says, “I got information about this incident from a relative. After which I reached out to this family. I work in a newspaper. Since this was a video and my newspaper is in print, I posted this video on my X handle. In this regard, I spoke to the sub-district magistrate, deputy SP and police station in-charge, they said that if there is something like this, it will be investigated, but no one came.”
When the journalist was asked whether he sent this news to his organisation or not, Sandeep said- ‘The news was sent to the organisation. Elections were to be held on 20 May, that is why it was kept on hold. In this matter, the organisation has said that it will talk to the concerned officials. Along with this, journalist organisations will also put pressure on this issue. If action is not taken, then all journalist organisations will protest. We will take the matter to court.’
Case filed against journalist
In this case, Sector Magistrate Parul Ahirwar posted on duty has filed a case against Sachin Vandan Tripathi in connection with this viral video. In the FIR lodged, the Sector Magistrate said that the Porra election was conducted with transparency under the direction of Presiding Officer Hiralal. The election process was also videographed. A person named Sachin Vandan Tripathi has made a fabricated video and circulated it in a wrong manner.
Case filed against journalist under these sections Photo- The Mooknayak
Warning of stopping ration!
In this entire case, the District Election Officer/District Magistrate of Chitrakoot has said that an impartial investigation will be conducted. Ratia says that after the video went viral, the police and officials came to his house several times. They talked about stopping the ration and also made a video in their favor.
The case was filed to create pressure, all sections are wrong
Former IPS and National President of Azad Adhikar Sena Amitabh Thakur has called the whole matter serious. Amitabh says- The journalist had uploaded the video of the whole matter on social media and appealed to the Election Commission of India to investigate. Hence, no case can be made against him. The sections of the case that has been registered are the same. Section 67 of the IT Act is applicable for sending obscene literature.
That video only contains statements of women, which are not obscene at all. Sections 182 and 188 are related to public servants. The journalist did not mention the name or position of any officer or employee, so this section has also been applied wrongly. After watching the video, it is clear that it is not fabricated, so neither sections 468 and 469 nor anyone else has been pointed out. Therefore, this FIR has also been filed wrongly only to create pressure. Azad Adhikar Sena will go to court regarding this entire matter.
The Muknayak spoke to District Election Officer/District Magistrate Abhishek Anand regarding this entire matter. He said, ‘The entire matter has been investigated. The women said that wrong statements were taken from them. Along with this, the statement has also been videographed.’ When The Muknayak asked about the allegations of threatening to stop ration during the investigation, the District Magistrate seemed to avoid saying anything.
