Nine-year-old Indra had suffered injuries on his eye and ear. He died on August 13.
Jaipur:
A Dalit boy’s death in Rajasthan after his teacher allegedly assaulted him for drinking water from a pot meant for “upper castes” threatens to turn into a political crisis for the ruling Congress.
Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:
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Besides attacks from the Opposition BJP, the Ashok Gehlot government is also facing the heat from within its ranks.
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Panachand Meghwal, Congress MLA from Baran-Atru, has sent his resignation to the Chief Minister, saying he is deeply hurt by the death of the 9-year-old student. Flagging caste-related crimes in the state, he has accused the police of not acting quickly enough.
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Congress leader Sachin Pilot, whose rebellion two years ago had threatened to topple Mr Gehlot’s government, is on the way to Jalore district to meet the boy’s family.
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“We have to put an end to incidents like Jalore. We have to assure the people of Dalit society that we stand with them,” Mr Pilot said. “The government is taking appropriate action and will do so in the future as well. We should not politicise an issue like this,” he added.
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Determined not to let Mr Pilot draw political mileage given their uneasy truce, the Chief Minister has now rushed senior cabinet ministers and state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra to Jalore.
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Nine-year-old Indra had suffered injuries on his eye and ear after his teacher allegedly thrashed him for drinking water from a pot those from so-called upper castes used. Following the July 20 incident at a private school, he was taken to a hospital in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad. There, he died last week.
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Police have arrested the teacher and charged him with murder and under the strict law that protects India’s scheduled castes and tribes.
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The FIR registered in the case says Indra was “naive and did not know that the pot had been kept aside for the teacher from the upper caste”. “Teacher Chail Singh told the boy, ‘You are from a lower caste. How dare you drink water from my pot!’. He then thrashed him,” the FIR says.
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Speaking to the media, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had said he has instructed officials to ensure swift probe into the case. “Justice will be ensured to the victim’s family at the earliest,” he had said, announcing an assistance of Rs 5 lakh.
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Targeting the state government, the BJP had said the child’s death is shameful. “When will Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra suggest Mr Gehlot to ensure justice for Dalits in Rajasthan,” the state BJP had tweeted.
