About 35 Dalit families of Shahpura village in Bhilwara district were thrown out of the village by the upper caste-dominated panchayat for filing a complaint.
Police said Papu Kalbelia had filed a complaint at the Bajnore police station against
Kalu Singh Rawat from upper caste in the village for beating him up on August 1.
Papu was forced to withdraw the complaint on August 3 due to panchayat pressure.
However, the caste panchayat was not ready to forgive the Dalits and told them vacate the village.
The 35 families of the Dalits were on the run after that.
In the meantime, the district administration on Tuesday assured the Dalits of total protection and escorted them to the village. The police force is deployed in the village now.
Area SDM Jai Prakash said the Dalits were brought back to the village and police protection is being provided to them.
Kalbelia community has traditionally earned its livelihood by singing folk songs and dances.
However, with the passage of time they have shifted to rearing cattle business.
The villagers alleged that ever since the community got in to cattle rearing, the grassland is being destroyed which is the common property of the whole village.
They also suspect that some members of the community to be involved in some theft cases reported in the village.
The Jaipur based Centre for Dalit Rights, an NGO, has demanded strict action against the perpetrators of the crime against the Dalits.
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