It is more than a month since a dalit from a poor household, Ramesh Chandra, suffered serious injuries in an attack but even after intensive treatment in hospital his injuries have not healed yet.
Ramesh is a 50 year dalit of Ballaan village in Bisanda block (Banda district, Uttar Pradesh). He works as a petty employee of a ration shop drawing a low wage. On October 9, two ruthless persons (dabangs) of the village got into an argument with Ramesh and spoke to him very insultingly. Ramesh pleaded with them that he is only a petty employee and not responsible for any problems that they were raising. Fearing violence he quietly walked over to the ration shop where he is employed. However the two dabangs followed him there. First they beat him and then hit him with sticks. After this the dabangs noticed a big utensil full of boiling water. They picked up the utensil from the fire and threw all the boiling water on Ramesh.
As a result of this middle part of the body of Ramesh was burnt very badly. He felt intense burning and pain and was rushed to the nearest government hospital in Atarra. As this was a serious case, after providing him some first aid he was sent to Banda district hospital. Recalling that time still tears appear in his eyes as he describes the intense suffering and the severe burning and pain which he felt at that time. I’ll never forget this intense pain and burning, he says. ‘I’ll have to live with this all my life.’
Ramesh remained in Banda district hospital for nearly three weeks and after this he was discharged on October 31. However his injuries had not yet healed and in fact still his injuries need bandaging and medicines. As he cannot go all the way to the district hospital regularly, he has to seek the help of a private doctor located nearby. His nephew explained that we do the daily bandaging at home as his own children who had rushed here on hearing of the incident had to go back to their workplaces.
Ramesh will not be able to return to work for quite some time and being employed in a low-wage job he has hardly any savings. Hence to save his life from collapsing, the government should provide him adequate economic help immediately on the basis of urgency.
When I visited his home on November 14, he told me that his injuries are still troubling him a lot. Walking up to his home in dalit basti we could see how precarious the conditions here are with open dirty drains which can be extremely risky for anyone who passing by, particularly for small children. Discrimination and untouchability are still sad realities of this village and such a cruel attack could only have taken place in the context of a wider reality of injustices and discrimination. Some people mentioned an earlier incident of some years back in which a worker who had been badly injured while toiling for influential persons was quietly left at a desolate place without informing his family. After some time he died.
To end such cruel and highly unjust incidents, it is important that strict and prompt action against the offenders should be taken. In the context of the present incident, villagers informed that one of the attackers has been arrested and another one is still to be arrested.
Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Saving Earth for Children and Man over Machine.
