Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister chief Sachin Pilot submitted a report to party president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday over the recent incident of torture of two Dalit men in Nagaur district. The report was based on the findings of a three-member fact-finding panel comprising Rajasthan Cabinet Minister and state Congress vice-president Bhanwar Lal Meghwal, MLA Harish Meena and the party’s state unit general secretary Mahesh Sharma.
Sources said lapses were found on part of the police in the handling of the case as the incident happened on February 16 but the FIR was registered four days later only after the video of it went viral. While refusing to comment on the contents of the report, Pilot said that atrocities and crime are condemnable and more so if the targets are Dalits, tribals and other poor sections of the society.
“As party (Rajasthan unit) president, when we were in opposition, we stood up against any such atrocities that took place and now that we are in government, it is our responsibility to make sure that the poor amongst us, especially the Dalits, are not made to face the kind of atrocities that recently occurred,” he told news agency PTI.
According to the police, the incident took place on February 16 at a motorcycle service agency in Karanu village falling under the Panchodi police station area. The staffers of the agency attacked the Dalits after accusing them of theft.
The brutal incident came to light after a video of the assault went viral. In the video, a group of men was seen thrashing two persons with belts. They later tortured one of the victims by pouring petrol on his private parts with a piece of cloth wrapped on a screwdriver.
Reacting to the incident, Pilot had tweeted, “The case of the brutal beating of Dalit youths which took place in Nagaur district is serious. The law and order in the state should remain strong and every citizen should feel safe, this is the priority of the government. If anyone tries to take law and order into their hands, strict action will be taken against them”.
नागौर जिले में घटित हुई दलित युवकों की बेरहमी से पिटाई का मामला गंभीर है। राज्य में कानून व्यवस्था सुदृढ़ रहे और हर नागरिक सुरक्षित महसूस करे, यह सरकार की प्राथमिकता है। यदि कोई कानून व्यवस्था अपने हाथ में लेने की कोशिश करेगा उन पर सख़्त कार्यवाही होगी।
— Sachin Pilot (@SachinPilot) February 20, 2020
When the Alwar gang-rape incident took place on April 26 last year, Pilot had said the government should take the incident seriously and asserted that atrocities against Dalits were unacceptable.