‘Not Equal To Us’: Dalit Student Abused, Dragged Out Of Gujarat Garba Event
Four women from Bharodi village in Gujarat’s Mahisagar district have been booked for allegedly humiliating and assaulting a Dalit woman at a garba event. The complainant, 25-year-old Rinku Vankar, a fourth-year engineering student at the Government Engineering College in Gandhinagar, lodged an FIR at Virpur police station. She said that she had joined the garba with a friend when the accused- Loma Patel, Roshni Patel, Vrushti Patel, and Meena Patel- confronted her.
According to Rinku’s statement, the women scolded and humiliated her for attending the event.
“They used casteist slurs, saying, ‘These people are not equal to us and cannot play garba with us,’” she alleged in the FIR. When she tried to de-escalate the situation by switching off the music and complaining to a local organiser, the women allegedly became violent. Rinku claimed she was grabbed by the hair, dragged out of the venue and prevented from filming the incident. The FIR also mentions that the accused threatened her with “serious consequences” if she attempted to return to the garba.
Police registered cases against the four women under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including Section 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), Section 54 (crime in presence of abettor), Section 351(1) (criminal intimidation) and Section 352 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace). Provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been invoked.
Safin Hasan, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Mahisagar, told that the case is being probed by the Deputy Superintendent of the SC/ST Cell.
“A Supreme Court precedent and guidelines prohibit the arrest of the accused in cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, where the punishment is less than seven years. The investigation is on. We have issued notices to the accused as per the process for preventive action. Their statements are being recorded,” the official said.
