Sankheda teacher assaults principal over issue of stationery; village barely 12 km from Una where Dalit flogging incident took place
It’s not only men who commit atrocity against Dalits. Even as the dust has barely settled on the Una atrocity case involving flogging of seven Dalit men for skinning a dead cow, an upper caste woman school teacher has been accused of assaulting her Dalit principal, also a woman. The incident took place on Thursday in Sankheda village, barely 12 km from Una town where the July, 2016, flogging incident took place.
The victim has been admitted to Una Civil Hospital with serious abdominal injuries. The injuries are so serious that she’s unable to sit in an upright position. A case of assault under various sections of Prevention of Atrocities Act and Indian Penal Code has been filed against the accused.
FIR details say Urmila Patel, a school teacher at Sankheda Primary School, assaulted principal Dharmistha Solanki, 35, over the issue of school stationery. Patel barged into Solanki’s office at 1 pm on Thursday to get the stationery and later assaulted her saying nobody liked to ask for stationery from a Dalit. Talking to Mirror from Una Civil Hospital, Solanki said: “Patel abused and assaulted me for being a Dalit while saying it was demeaning for her to ask for stationery from me. As per the norm, all the stationery items have to be kept in principal’s room and the staff can get it as per their requirement.“ Solanki’s husband Lalit Ravi, who is also a teacher in the same school, told Mirror, “I was away for an official work, when the incident happened.
My wife was brought to the civil hospital after she complained of severe abdominal pain.“ Accused Urmila Pa tel could not be contacted.
Local education dept collecting details
Taluka primary education officer Jayeshgiri Goswami said no action has been taken in the case yet as the victim is yet to file a written complaint to his office. “Till now I have not received anything on paper from Dharmistha Solanki,“ he said. Solanki said this is not the first time that she has been victimised. “Earlier when a similar incident occurred, Goswami intervened and facilitated a settlement,“ she said.
Accused’s husband says she is innocent
Urmila Patel was not available for comment but her husband Nayan Patel denied all allegations on her behalf. He said: “I demand an unbiased investigation by the police. They should get the statements of staffers to know what actually transpired. Urmila is innocent and has been trapped in a false case.“
Police yet to find eyewitnesses
Talking to Mirror, investigating officer and Una Deputy Superintendent of Police P S Valvi said, “There are two Dalits among the school staff of 10. So far, we have not found any eyewitness or CCTV footage. Accused Urmila Patel is yet to be arrested. We are probing the incident.“
Una at the epicentre
The flogging of seven Dalit youths in July, 2016, hit national headlines. The administration charge sheeted 34 accused in the case, including four police officials. The incident eventually gave birth to statewide Dalit uprising. All the accused are still in judicial custody.
Source – Ahmedabad Mirror – 14th January 2017
