Dalit Man's Hand Allegedly Chopped Off In MP, By Upper Caste Man For Demanding Unpaid Wages

In a shocking incident, the hand of a Dalit daily wage labourer was chopped off allegedly by his employer when he asked for his pending wages.

The incident happened in Dolmau village of Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday.

The victim, identified as Ashok Saket, had worked as a mason with Ganesh Mishra, but the wages were not paid.

AFP

What happened?

According to the police, Mishra owed some Rs 10,000 to Saket in pending wages, and despite several requests, he refused to pay.

"Whenever, I used to visit him to ask for money, Ganesh Mishra used to give another date," Saket said.

On Sunday, Saket along with a friend went to meet Mishra at his home and demanded that he pay the pending wages.

This resulted in an argument between the two sides, following which Mishra and others allegedly attacked Saket with a sharp weapon and severed his left hand.

Dalit Voice/ Twitter

"I needed money to feed my children, that's why I said I would not leave until I get my money. Ganesh Mishra, went inside his home saying, wait I will give your money right now. Within a moment he came out with a sword. Before I could realise anything, he wielded the sword furiously. He tried to kill me by chopping off my neck, but I tried to save myself with hand. Immediately, after chopping my hand, Mishra hurled abuses and fled from the spot" Saket said.

Accused fled the spot

The accused then allegedly fled the spot after hiding the severed nearby.

The injured man was rescued by the police who found him bleeding. They also managed to find the palm, which was thrown into a field after a search of nearly half an hour.

Saket was rushed to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Rewa, where doctors have successfully reattached the severed palm after a three-hour-long surgery.

Saket is still admitted in the ICU due to the massive blood loss he had suffered.

BCCL

"Patient is out of danger now. Surgery was done and chopped hand was fixed but it will take at least one week to know whether the surgery is successful or not," Chief Medical Officer (CMO) SGMH, Dr Atul Singh said.

Three arrested

Following the incident, police have also arrested three men, including Mishra and two more people identified as Ratnesh Mishra and Krishna Kumar Mishra.

The three men have been booked under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

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Rise in cases against SCs

In 2020, according to the data by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 50,291 cases were registered for crimes committed against Scheduled Castes (SCs), an increase of 9.4 per cent over 2019 (45,961 cases).

Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh had recorded the highest number of crimes against Dalits in 2020.

UP reported the highest number of atrocities (12,714) against SCs and Madhya Pradesh reported the most number of crimes (2,401) against STs.

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