11 hours ago
Caste bias crackdown: 13 Village Development Committee members jailed in Nizamabad; social boycott over road row punished
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HYDERABAD: Thirteen members of a 'Village Development Committee' (VDC) of Munipalli village in Nizamabad district were on Wednesday sentenced to five years in jail for enforcing a social boycott of a section of people.
The case was filed in 2021 under the SC/ST Act against 16 members of the VDC for enforcing a social boycott of Thumma Ravindar and people of his community after a dispute arose over a road. On Wednesday, a special court in Nizamabad pronounced the sentence after the case was fast-tracked.
Nizamabad police commissioner Sai Chaitanya warned VDCs against taking the law into their hands and discriminating against people on the basis of caste or religion.
He said strong action would be taken against them.
In a similar case, on June 3 the special court in Nizamabad had convicted 15 people who were members of a VDC of Kolipalka village in Jakranpally mandal for enforcing a social boycott of a Dalit family. The case was filed in April 2020 over a dispute regarding the complainant driving a tractor in front of the house of a VDC member. While eight were sentenced to five years in jail, seven were given a three-year sentence by the special judge for SCs/STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act cases.
