Uttar Pradesh, Bihar: Outrage erupts as policemen commit heinous crimes against Dalits

SABRANGINDIA  JANUARY 4, 2024

Two harrowing stories of brutality emerge from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as a 25-year-old Dalit woman is found dead in Agra, allegedly murdered by a police constable. Similarly, in Bihar’s Sitamarhi, public outrage rises as a police inspector is under investigation for assaulting a Dalit woman at a marketplace.

A 25-year-old Dalit woman found raped and strangled allegedly at the hands of a 27-year-old police constable, who is now identified as Raghvendra Singh, in Agra, according the Financial Express. The victim’s dead body was recovered from the room the constable had rented. It was hanging from the ceiling of Singh’s room on December 29.

According to report, the existing evidence has revealed that the constable and the young Dalit woman had a shared history of having known each other for the past five years. The two had met each other while undergoing nursing training in Jhansi where they decided that they had wanted to marry each other. PTI has reported that the girl had visited the constable’s room a day prior to her death. 

The Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), RK Singh, has stated that Raghvendra Singh is originally from Jhansi and was residing in rented accommodation in Belanganj, Agra. The victim was employed at a Kidney Centre in Gurugram and had come to the constable’s room a day before she had died.

The victim’s brother has stated that her family was open and had discussed the option of marriage with the constable Singh’s family, however, his family had declined the proposal. However, this did not deter the constable who continued to be in communication with the woman. 

Reports suggest that on the day of the incident, Raghvendra Singh had made a brief appearance at his office but had reportedly left early. A police official has told the Indian Express, that after Singh left early from office he found the woman dead by hanging herself at his room. Following these events, the family filed a complaint and he was taken into custody. The father of the victim filed legal action against the constable, and the police have pressed charges under sections 306, 376, and the SC/ST Act of the Indian Penal Code. Furthermore, invoking the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the accused reflects the gravity of the situation.

The accused was initially absconding, however the police have reportedly arrested him as of now. The ACP, Rakesh Kumar Singh has further stated that the accused constable had transported the dead body to the hospital before running away. 

Sitamarhi, Bihar 

In Bihar’s Sitamarhi, Inspector Rajkishore Singh, the in-charge of Surasand police station, is under intense spotlight after a video has surfaced in which he has been caught assaulting a Dalit woman in public. The footage captures Singh wielding a stick and repeatedly beating the woman in the Surasand market. Marketgoers and onlookers continue to look at the woman being beaten by the inspector in the video. 

The incident featured Singh in his official uniform beating the woman and has now, since then gone viral and garnered widespread condemnation from the public. The hashtag #SitamarhiPolice has also been reportedly trending on social media platforms. However, the police reportedly have not independently verified the video. However, the Sitamarhi Police released a statement acknowledging the incident and announced a thorough investigation into the matter. 

According to Vinod Kumar, the Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO), have stated the woman was being beaten because there as an alleged kidnapping case of a girl. Kumar has clarified in a video statement that a girl had been rescued. According to NDTV, the police has stated that, “The girl was rescued, but the two sides visited the police station and engaged in a fight among themselves outside. This led to a traffic jam on the road and the cop used his baton to disperse the crowd.”

Violence against Dalit women remains a distressing and pervasive issue and shows the continued persistence of deep-rooted social inequalities and discrimination. The intersectionality of caste and gender further worsens marginalisation, rendering Dalit women more susceptible to systemic discrimination. The violence is not only interpersonal but also institutional, with reports of Dalit women being disproportionately affected by atrocities, including rape and domestic violence.