Man arrested for assaulting a Dalit girl because she wasn't wearing a uniform

Bhadohi, Aug 24 (IANS) A former village head in Uttar Pradesh Bhadohi district has been booked for allegedly assaulting a Dalit girl and subjecting her to casteist slurs.

Girija Shankar Yadav, in-charge of the Chauri police station, where the case was registered, said that the incident took place in a school in Manikpur village.

He identified the former village head as Manoj Kumar Dubey.

According to the police official, Dubey was interacting with students in the school on Monday and found that the Dalit girl, a Class 8 student, was not wearing the prescribed school uniform and questioned her.

"While responding to his query, the girl said she will wear it once her father buys it for her. The girl's reply enraged Dubey, who allegedly thrashed her, hurled casteist remarks at her and pushed her out of the school," said Yadav.

A case against Yadav was registered under Section 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and Section 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as the Scheduled Castes, Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The accused is absconding and a search has been launched to arrest him, said the police officer.