Police in Madhya Pradesh's Sidhi district on Tuesday registered a case after a video showing a man urinating on a tribal youth went viral. Opposition Congress claimed that the accused was linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The ruling party, however, denied the allegation.
"A viral video from Sidhi district has come to my notice....I have instructed the administration to arrest the culprit and take the strictest action and also invoke the National Security Act,” Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in a tweet.
An official from the Chief Minister's Office said a case was registered against the accused, identified as Pravesh Shukla, at Bahari police station under Indian Penal Code sections 294 (obscene acts), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Action against the stringent NSA was also initiated, he added.
State Congress chief Kamal Nath in a statement said, “A video of atrocity of (a man) urinating on a tribal youth from Sidhi district of the state has surfaced. There is no place for such a heinous act with the youth of tribal community in civilised society.”
The former chief minister also said that the culprit was said to be associated with the BJP. Madhya Pradesh already ranks first when it comes to atrocities against tribals, he said. “This incident has put entire Madhya Pradesh to shame....strictest punishment should be given to the guilty person and atrocities on tribals in Madhya Pradesh should be stopped,” Nath added.
State BJP media in-charge Ashish Agarwal said the accused was not associated with the party. “The BJP will always oppose every heinous act against the tribal community. MP BJP demands the strictest action against this person,” Agarwal said.
Both the BJP and Congress have been trying to woo the tribal community in the state ahead of the year-end Assembly elections.
Some social media posts claimed that the accused Pravesh Shukla was a representative of BJP MLA from Sidhi Kedarnath Shukla.
The MLA could not be contacted for his comment despite several attempts. Pawan Khera, chairman of the Congress's Media and Publicity Department, shared the video clip along with a picture of a banner on which the accused was described as `Vidhayak Pratinidhi Sidhi'.
“In the 21st century, such inhuman atrocities are happening with the tribals of our country and we are dreaming of becoming Vishwaguru! What could be more embarrassing for all of us than this?” he tweeted.