Madhya Pradesh: Home of Indian man who urinated on tribal worker demolished
- Published
Pravesh Shukla has been arrested
Authorities in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have demolished the home of a man who was arrested for urinating on a tribal worker in public.
Pravesh Shukla has been charged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act - a law meant to protect historically oppressed communities.
He was arrested after a video, which shows him urinating on the man, was widely shared on social media.
The incident sparked outrage online.
Mr Shukla has not commented on the incident.
Senior government official Nilamber Mishra told, external Hindustan Times newspaper that around 400 sqft of Mr Shukla's house which was "constructed illegally" was demolished on Wednesday.
Videos shared by local media, external showed a bulldozer pulling down sections of a wall and a tin roof.
Some politicians of the main opposition party Congress have alleged that Mr Shukla is associated with India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - which is also in power in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP has denied the allegation.
The police also refused to comment on the allegation, saying that the "facts of the case need to be first investigated".
But in what is being seen as an attempt at damage control, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan invited the victim to his home on Thursday morning and apologised to him and washed his feet in a sign of penance.
Earlier, he had also expressed outrage at the incident and ordered the administration to impose the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against Mr Shukla.
Critics, however, say the gesture is linked to the upcoming state elections and the BJP cannot afford to antagonise an entire community.
The Congress has set up a panel to investigate, external the urination incident and party leaders are expected to meet the state's governor next week to raise the issue of alleged suppression of Dalits and tribal people in the state.
Despite laws meant to protect tribespeople, discrimination against them and other people belonging to India's lower castes - thought to number around 200 million - remains a daily reality.
They are some of the country's most downtrodden citizens because of an unforgiving Hindu caste hierarchy that condemns them to the bottom of the ladder.
In the video, which was first circulated on Tuesday, Mr Shukla can be seen smoking a cigarette as he urinates on the face of the man who is sitting by the side of the road. Reports say that Mr Shukla was drunk at the time.
As the clip went viral, several people demanded his arrest.
"This incident has put entire Madhya Pradesh to shame. Strictest punishment should be given to the guilty person and atrocities on tribal [people] in Madhya Pradesh should be stopped," Kamal Nath, a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, tweeted on Tuesday.
Congress spokesperson Abbas Hafeez alleged that the accused, Pravesh Shukla, had ties with BJP lawmaker Kedarnath Shukla. Mr Hafeez also shared photos which showed the two of them together.
Mr Shukla's father, Ramakant, has alleged that his son is being targeted by the opposition because "he is the representative of the BJP legislator".
"I hope there is a thorough investigation in the case, and justice is served," local media quoted him as saying.
Lawmaker Kedarnath Shukla, however, denied the allegations and said that he had no idea who the accused was.
"When I go out in the constituency, there are many people who come with me. I attend so many programmes. He is not a BJP member," he said.
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