New Delhi, June 15: Congress President Rahul Gandhi has once again pulled his guns on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an affiliate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In his fresh attack, he accused the RSS and BJP of spreading hatred after three Dalit boys were allegedly paraded naked and assaulted for swimming in a village well in Wakadi village of Maharashtra. "The sole crime of these Dalit children was they were taking a dip in a well. Humanity is struggling to save its dignity," Rahul Gandhi said in his Tweet today.
He also further remarked that if "we don't raise our voices against this politics of hate and poison of the RSS and BJP, history would not forgive us." Rahul Gandhi also shared the video of the incident on his Twitter to register his protest.
On June 10, three minor Dalit boys were stripped, beaten and paraded naked in Wakadi village for allegedly swimming in a village well. The incident served as a major embarrassment for the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, as it gave fodder to the opposition party to attack Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who is on a foreign tour to attract investment.
The video which went viral clearly showed how the young three boys were beaten up with a leather belt and were paraded naked. Two people have been arrested in connection with the incident, said Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Dilip Kamble. State Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan said two persons have been booked under the provisions of Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Information Technology Act, besides other charges.
There were also reports that the parents of the boys initially lodged a complaint, however, due to pressure from other castes they took their complaint back and blamed their boys for the whole incident. Maharashtra state Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said on Thursday night that the well belonged to Ishwar Joshi and his servant Sonu Lohar who had assaulted the boys.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 15, 2018 03:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).