Dalit man slapped, forced to lick slipper in Uttar Pradesh

In yet another case of Dalit atrocity, a man from the community was made to lick another person's feet in Uttar Pradesh's Sonabhadra, after an altercation.

The video, which was widely shared online, showed a person seated on a wooden bed, with his foot thrust forward for the Dalit man to lick. Another individual can be seen squatting on his haunches and licking the other person's feet.

Rajendra, the Dalit man, was also forced to do sit-ups while holding his ears, the video showed.

The aggressor was identified as Tejbali Singh, a lineman in the electricity department.

Another video showed the lineman arm-wrestling the Dalit man to the ground and slapping him repeatedly while cussing him. Rajendra was also reportedly threatened not to visit the area again.

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A police case has been filed against him under the Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe Act (Prevention of Atrocity Act) 1989 (SC/ST Act) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.

"There was an electricity issue at the house of the maternal uncle of the Dalit. The lineman reached the spot and started thrashing the man. The video shows that Tejbali made him lick his slippers", NDTV reported a police officer from the area as saying.

The Dalit man had gone to visit his maternal uncle.

This news comes amid a worrying spate of violent acts against tribals in Madhya Pradesh, with one incident of a man having urinated on a tribal, and another where tribal brothers were beaten up after an accident in the state. Just yesterday, another clip emerged from MP, showing a man being forced to lick another person's feet.

However, NDTV reported police saying that this case in MP appears to be revenge-driven. The person in the clip who's forced to lick a teen's feet had a police case against him for beating up an individual in Dabra on June 21.