“Took Him To 7 Hospitals, Couldn’t Save Him”: Family On Dalit Boy Killing
The unfathomable agony of caste prejudice in some regions of the country is depicted by a young boy’s garlanded photograph of himself in Rajasthan, accompanied by his heartbroken family.
On July 20, a Class 3 Dalit child in Jalore, Rajasthan, aged nine, “erred” by drinking from a pitcher intended for upper castes. His teacher beat him so severely for touching the pitcher that he was left essentially immobilised and with serious injuries to his ear and eye.
“We found out at 4 pm. His limbs were not working,” said his uncle at the Surana village around 250 km from Jodhpur. “We took him to seven hospitals, but no one could treat him. We finally took him to Ahmedabad, where he died on August 13,” he told.
Seven hospitals were involved in total, spread out over five cities and 15 days.
According to the family, they wanted to wait until all of their relatives were present, but the state administration compelled them to hold a hasty burial. The uncle claimed, “We were lathi-charged, and we were hurt.”
The youngster’s family is currently battling what it claims is a fabrication spread by the school, according to which the boy was punched because of an altercation with a classmate.
“The headmaster is wrong. There was no fight between boys – it was only about the matka (water pitcher). They (the school) are obviously under pressure from the Thakurs (upper castes). They say he had a previous ear injury. That’s a lie,” said the boy’s relative.
Even while it includes classrooms, the institution where the tragedy occurred hardly qualifies as a school. No chairs or tables are present. On the bare floor, students are seated. The new in-charge, Suresh Kumar, believes that caste has absolutely nothing to do with what transpired. Two boys were fighting over a book, he claims, and the headmaster, Shail Singh, beat both.
Officials from the school point to a sizable water tank that they say each student uses to drink. They assert that no one has a special pitcher.
Picture Courtesy: google/images are subject to copyright
