Hathras incident: Valmiki community members clash with police in Agra

Activists of the Bharti Valmiki Aadi Dharam Samaj (BVADS) shout slogans as they participate in a candle march during a protest following accusations of Indian Police forcibly cremating the body of a 19-year-old woman victim, who was allegedly gang-raped by four men in Bool Garhi village of Uttar Pradesh state, in Amritsar on October 1, 2020. - Indian police were accused on September 30 of forcibly cremating the body of a 19-year-old alleged gang-rape victim as anger grew over the latest horrific sexual assault to rock the country. The teenager from India's marginalised Dalit community suffered serious injuries in a brutal sexual attack two weeks ago, according to her family and police, and died at a New Delhi hospital on September 29. Credit: AFP

Scores of Valmiki community members who were protesting against the Hathras incident clashed with the police here on Saturday.

The protesters pelted stones at the policemen and official vehicles.

Police personnel were deployed at the clash site outside a municipal corporation office in Kothi Meena Bazaar area of the Taj city, officials said.

Some visuals purportedly showed that thee Valmiki community members from Rajnagar in Lohamandi reached the municipal corporation office and pelted stones at the civic body’s garbage collection vehicles at around 12 noon.

Later, dozens of policemen, some of them in anti-riot gears, reached the site and the agitated crowd started pelting stones at them, too, even as traffic on the road remained obstructed during the clash, they showed.

“Adequate police force has reached the incident site with senior officials. Efforts are underway to restore normalcy and law and order,” a statement by Agra police said.

The incident wherein a 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras by four men on September 14 has been widely condemned across the country.

The agitation by Balmikis came even as police conducted flag marches in parts of the district for creating awareness on coronavirus.