Since morning #ArrestPraveshShukla has been trending, all it speaks is the death of humanity. Last night, I came across a video of a man urinating on the face of a tribal man in the middle of the night. The incident occurred in the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh. It was humiliating and shameful. By this morning, the video was everywhere, with a staggering demand for the arrest of the accused.
The accused, identified as Pravesh Shukla, was seen urinating with a cigarette in his mouth. This attitude showcases the rising inhumanity that clouds our society. It sends shivers while watching the video. It was hard to see the survivor coming to terms with what was happening. It forces us to think- how can a person be insensitive towards another person? What was the accused thinking? Where did the man get the guts to do something like this? Power or privilege of being affiliated with a political party or hailing from the so-called upper caste.
MP Man Urinates On Tribal Youth
Reportedly, Pravesh Shukla is a representative of BJP's sitting MLA from Sidhi, Kedarnath. Shukla had a share amount of prominence in his area. Does that give him the privilege of insulting people? Why did he think he could misuse his status to humiliate a human? The person Shukla peed on was identified as Ravat (36), a resident of Karaundi village in the district. As per reports, he is said to be mentally challenged. Here, the severity of his act increases; he insults a person from a marginalised community having an economically poor background and is mentally challenged. 'He was drunk' cannot be taken as an excuse for committing such a heinous act. The man tried to exert power over the survivor; this shows the hegemony of upper-caste people and makes a case for tribal atrocities.
In a broader view, it was not just a mistake; it was an atrocity, it was a crime. It was a crime that served as a grim reminder that society's mentality needs to be sensitized, and the hegemony of upper castes and classes needs to be pulled down. Madhya Pradesh had the highest number of cases of atrocities against Scheduled Tribes (STs) in 2021, as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report. Earlier, also Madhya Pradesh witnessed the rape of five months pregnant Dalit woman. She was raped in front of her children over her husband's refusal to chop a few trees. According to the NCRB report 2021, atrocities increased by 1.2% in 2021 (50900) over 2020 (50,291 cases). Among these atrocities against Scheduled Tribes have increased by 6.4% in 2021 (8,802 cases) over 2020 (8,272 cases).
Many cases of cruelty go unreported; who is going to take cognizance of it? Look at this video; the incident reportedly occurred nine days back, and on 4 July, MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took cognizance of the disturbing incident. What if the video was never taken? What if it never went viral? Would the survivor have got justice ever? CM Chouhan ordered authorities to take strict action.
The accused was arrested and charged under section 294 (using obscene language), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and relevant sections of the SC/ST Act. I checked out the video of the accused's arrest; it was another shame. He was walking with full confidence; not a single ounce of shame or guilt could reflect from his body language. Was he arrested? He was walking in between with police officials at his side with no handcuffs as if knows he would be walking free soon.
Instead of looking at crime from a larger perspective, it is dismissed by taking hurried actions on it. The incident has eventually taken a political colour, as the accused is attached to the ruling party BJP. It is claimed that he is targeted by the opposition, but why the whole point of crime against the marginalised person is taken lightly? The crime is committed, the humanity is shamed. Why is this not considered? Also, the arrest made is it just to stem the outrage and not let the incident jeopardises the upcoming elections? Or genuine attempt to punish the inhuman act.
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