After being denied crematorium, Dalit women abused in Gujarat village for washing clothes in pond

Two cases of alleged atrocities against scheduled caste community members in less than two weeks have put a village in the Vadodara district on edge. The district police on Tuesday night averted a major clash between two communities after a mob of about 300 people raised inflammatory slogans against each other.

The local police booked a mob of 250 people and deployed a posse of policemen at Gametha village under the Vadu police station area to maintain peace and order. Police said that Tuesday's incident was triggered after five dalit women were allegedly abused by an upper caste villager for washing clothes in the village pond.

The FIR, filed by a Dharmika Rathod, has alleged that a villager, Mansang Padhiar, allegedly hurled casteist slurs at her and four other women from her community when they were washing clothes in the village pond. The FIR states that Padhiar's nephew, Ghanshyam, came to a Dalit locality and tried to negotiate a compromise - to convince the women to not file a complaint. However, the women decided to lodge the complaint at the Vadu police station.

Earlier on August 3, police had booked 13 persons from Padhiar community for preventing the last rites of a Dalit man at the common crematorium. The village is reported to have a separate crematorium for Dalits, which was waterlogged due to heavy rains. Rajnikant Vankar, 35, a resident of Vankarvas in Gametha village, alleged that the accused persons had removed wooden logs he kept for the last rites.

The FIR stated that due to objections from the Padhiar community, Vankar's father was cremated in the open ground belonging to the panchayat office in police presence. Among the accused include the husband of the village sarpanch. Police arrested all 13 persons.

Vadodara district Superintendent of Police Rohan Anand told DH that on Tuesday evening, a group of about 150 activists, leaders and Dalit community people had gathered in the village - demanding action against the sarpanch for not taking any action in the atrocity cases. At the same time, a large number of people from the Padhiar community gathered at a nearby temple for an evening aarti.

Police said that the large gathering of the two communities soon turned into a major commotion, with both groups raising inflammatory slogans against each other. A police team which was present in the village averted the clash. By night, 60-70 policemen were deployed in the village to maintain order.