17-05-2025
Dalit activist targeted with casteist slurs
Rajkot: A Dalit social worker from Amreli district was allegedly subjected to casteist slurs on Instagram, after he participated in a protest against the movement of heavy vehicles for wind turbine construction on village roads in Lathi taluka.
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Naresh Vala, the complainant, lodged a case at
station against an Instagram user named Raol Vanrajsinh Chavda.
Police booked the accused under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Information Technology Act and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The alleged offence can be traced back to Dec, when the sarpanch of Shekhpipariya village alerted Vala about the unlawful use of village roads by vehicles carrying wind turbine construction material.
Despite requests from the panchayat for an alternative route to be used, the transporters continued to use the village roads.
Vala visited the village to take up the matter with those involved in the construction. This escalated into a confrontation that required police intervention. He later spoke about the matter on a Facebook Live session.
After this, Vala began receiving abusive comments on his Instagram posts from the said account. His efforts to engage with the account holder went unanswered.
On April 25, Vala received a particularly offensive comment containing casteist abuse and derogatory remarks about Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Constitution. He alleged that these posts defamed him and incited communal disharmony.
