Dalit man's face, body smeared with human excreta in Madhya Pradesh, accused detained

A case is being registered against the accused, who belongs to an OBC community, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, in connection with the Chhatarpur incident. The incident comes weeks after a man urinated on a tribal man in the state's Sidhi district, triggering massive outrage.

A Dalit man claimed that a man from another caste spread human excrement on his face and body after the latter unintentionally touched him with grease in the Chhatarpur area of Madhya Pradesh. The accused has been detained based on the complaint, a police official said.

A case is being registered against the accused Ramkripal Patel, who belongs to an OBC community, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, in connection with the Chhatarpur incident, police said. The victim Dashrath Ahirwar approached the police on Saturday, he said.

Ahirwar said the event happened on Friday as he was working to build a drain for the Panchayat in the hamlet of Bikaura, which is located approximately 35 km from the Chhatarpur district administrative centre. He said that Ramkripal Patel, the accused, was taking a bath at a nearby hand pump. According to Ahirwar, he accidentally touched Patel with the grease he was using for the construction job.

“After that, Patel brought human faeces lying nearby in a mug he was using for bathing and smeared it on my body including head and face,” he claimed while speaking to media. "I informed the panchayat about the situation and scheduled a meeting. Instead, the panchayat fined me Rs 600 on Friday," according to Ahirwar.

Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Manmohan Singh Baghel stated that Ramkripal Patel was the subject of a case under sections 294 (punishment for obscene acts or words in public) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as the Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes (prevention of atrocities) Act.

Baghel said when Ahirwar was working with others, they were joking with Patel who was bathing nearby. "When Ahirwar put grease on Patel's hand. Thereafter, Patel picked up human excreta with hand and threw it on Ahirwar's back," the police officer added. 

Police said the accused and the victim are in the age group of 40 to 45. The incident comes weeks after a man urinated on a tribal man in the state's Sidhi district, triggering massive outrage.