Woman Forces Sacked Employee To Lick Her Boots After He Demands Wages

A businesswoman from Gujarat's Morbi has been booked for allegedly forcing a Dalit former employee to put her shoe in his mouth and apologise when he demanded his remaining wage. According to The Indian Express, Vibhuti Patel, the owner of a private firm called Raniba Industries, abused and physically assaulted the Dalit man with the help of six other people. 

The former employee, Nilesh Dalsaniya, had been working at her firm for only 16 days, as Patel had told him his services were no longer required. He joined the exports department of the firm on October 2, where he was promised a salary of Rs 12,000 per month. Since Dalsaniya was let go, he expected Patel to pay him the pay for the days he worked there.

Dalit Ex-Employee Abused And Ill-Treated

On November 22, 21-year-old Dalsaniya went to the Raniba Industries office in Morbi's Ravapur Road with his elder brother, Mehul, and neighbour Bhavesh Makwana. When Dalsaniya demanded the business owner settle his dues, he was met with casteist abuse from a man named Om Patel, who identified himself as Vibhuti Patel’s brother. Dalsaniya told the police that Om Patel physically assaulted him.

Later, business owner Patel, manager Parixit Patel, and four other unidentified men joined in and started assaulting Dalsaniya. According to the FIR, they dragged Dalsaniya to an elevator, took him to the terrace of the commercial building and beat him up with a belt while also kicking and punching him.

“Vibhuti Patel forced me to take her chappal in my mouth and made me apologise,” Dalsaniya said in his complaint, according to The Indian Express. “She warned me that I shall be killed if I ventured on Ravapar Road or dared to file a complaint,” the complainant further stated.

The Indian Express reported that Dalsaniya suffered injuries and has been admitted to the state-run Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society Hospital in Morbi, according to Pratipalsinh Zala, the deputy superintendent of police (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe cell).

Vibhuti Patel and her employees have been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506(2) (criminal intimidation), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting) and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of the offence committed in prosecution of common object). The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has also been invoked.