‘Does our touch make them impure?’ Dalit student thrashed by college principal for drinking water from bottle

NEW DELHI: A Class 11 student belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) community was beaten up and hurled with caste slurs by the principal after he drank water from a bottle kept on the school bench in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor. The UP police has lodged a complaint in this regard.

Additional Superintendent of Police informed that the Chamno Devi Inter College principal and his brother assaulted the Class 11 student. The college comes under Afzalgarh police station area.

The incident happened during the farewell party of intermediate students. The 16-year-old said: “Students were made to sit on the ground during the farewell party. As the gate was closed, I couldn’t drink water from the tap. So I drank from the bottle kept on the bench. The college principal who saw this kicked me from behind and hurled me with caste slurs.” Demanding justice, he said: “Does our touch make them impure?"

Also read | ‘Azadi for upper-castes’: Dalit students cursed, beaten, locked up in schools across UP, Rajasthan

थाना अफजलगढ क्षेत्रान्तर्गत चमनो देवी इंटर कॉलेज में प्रिंसिपल व उसके भाइयों द्वारा उसी कॉलेज के कक्षा 11वीं के छात्र के साथ मारपीट व अभद्रता करने एवं पुलिस कार्यवाही के सम्बन्ध में अपर पुलिस अधीक्षक, ग्रामीण जनपद बिजनौर की बाइट। #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/5of5NFZ0II

— Bijnor Police (@bijnorpolice) February 12, 2023

According to the Crime in India 2021 report released on August 29 by the National Crime Records Bureau ( NCRB ), Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest – 13,416 – number of cases of crimes against SCs. As per the 2011 census, Uttar Pradesh has over four crore Dalit population.