In another shocking incident of lynching in Madhya Pradesh, two Dalit children were allegedly beaten to death by some people for defecating in front of a panchayat building in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district on Wednesday, police said.
The incident took place in Bhavkedhi village in the morning, Sirsod police station’s inspector R S Dhakad said.
The two children, Roshani (12) and Avinash (10), suffered serious injuries in the incident and were rushed to the district hospital where doctors declared them dead, he said. Efforts were on to arrest the culprits, he said.
Earlier in July, a 58-year old man was allegedly beaten to death by a mob on suspicion of stealing peacocks in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district. Nine persons were arrested in connection with the crime.
Lynching- a fast-growing menace
Lynching is on the increase in the country and is becoming a bigger menace than the country can handle with laws and bills. The earlier targets were Muslims and Dalits under suspicion of cow slaughtering. Now, this mob mentality is swallowing anything that is sees as suspicious. Last month, more than 20 incidents of mob attacks related to rumored child lifting/kidnapping came to light from UP and Bihar.
The state which is very quick to book any citizen under sedition charges seems to be totally incapable of arresting or taking action against the culprits of lynching even when there is video evidence in many instances of lynching. Many BJP leaders have actively worked towards promoting such incidents by praising, garlanding the culprits of the lynchings.
Supreme court in a last year’s order has directed a series of measures against mob violence and public lynching, of which those transporting cows were frequent victims. In the order the Supreme court also directed the state to take preventive and remedial measures. Â
Despite the civil society outrage, most states haven’t acted on the incidents of mob violence. Only, the states of Rajasthan and West Bengal have passed anti-lynching bills.
Instead of doing social awareness programs to prevent such incidents and faster action on the culprits of mob violence, some states have resorted to using rare laws to handle the mob lynching incidents.Â
In Uttar Pradesh which has seen some of the worse of mob lynching related deaths, the state decided to slap the national security act (NSA) against those who are found to inciting or spreading rumours on social media.
Congress’s government in Madhya Pradesh went a step further in the misuse of NSA when it arrested five people under NSA, allegedly carrying cattle and suspicious of cattle slaughter.
The national security act (NSA) is to prevent activities that endanger the country’s security or public order. In India, where normally the law is misused to silence political dissenters and vocal critics, this is a new low. it can lead to a maximum of one year in prison through executive order without trial or bail and is being used against those suspected of offenses against cows.
