Four upper caste men allegedly stripped a 16-year-old Dalit boy for touching their bucket of water, broke his arm and forced him to lick their spit off their shoes.
The alleged atrocity in Kanpur district came to light on Sunday, a day after a video began circulating on social media, purportedly showing a backward-caste youth being forced to lick spit at gunpoint, apparently in Chandauli district.
The Kanpur incident took place on May 2, the boy’s father, who had his rib broken when he intervened, told reporters in their village Jhakhra Sambharpur on Sunday.
“Someone told me some people had tied up my son and I rushed to save him, but they thrashed me too. They released us when other villagers interfered,” the man, a farmer, said.
The victim said: “I felt thirsty while working in the fields. I saw a bucketful of water placed near a public hand-pump in front of the house of Sanjay Rajput.
“When I walked over and took a mugful of water, Sanjay, his brother Deepak, (and associates) Sagar Kumar and Patiya Kumar came running and snatched the mug off my hands.”
He said he was stripped and thrashed for half an hour.
“They kicked and punched my father, too, when he came to rescue me. We kept apologising but they wouldn’t stop beating us. Then Sanjay spit on his shoes and forced me to lick it. They also poured water into my shoes and made me drink it,” the
boy said.
“We were in hospital for three days. Two days ago, we mustered the courage to approach the police.”
Manoj Kumar Singh, assistant commissioner of police for the Panki area of Kanpur district, described the incident as “fighting between some people”.
“We have registered a case (under the SC/ST atrocity law) against four people. An inquiry is on before action is initiated,” Singh said.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, Uttar Pradesh topped the list of atrocities against Dalits with 15,130 recorded cases in 2023 and 14,642 in 2024.
The video of the Chandauli incident purportedly shows a youth pointing a pistol at a man in his 20s while spitting on the ground and forcing him to lick it.
Chandauli superintendent of police Akash Patel confirmed this happened in Bhagatpur village “nine or ten months ago”.
“A case of assault has been registered against Anshu Singh at Jamalpur police station. He was summoned and has tendered an apology. We are taking legal action against him,” Patel told reporters on Saturday.
While only one attacker is seen in the video, the audio suggests the presence of at least two associates, one of whom seems to be doing the filming. The victim said the attackers were real estate agents and known thugs.
“All three are from my village, Bhagatpur. They attacked me for fun and posted the video to spread terror in the area,” he said.
“The police took only Anshu into custody on Saturday and granted him bail from the police station.”