Monday, June 17, 2013

Brinda Karat decries pendency of dalit atrocity cases



CPIM politburo member Brinda Karat said that about 1.1 lakh cases of atrocities against dalits have been pending in various courts across the country.

Speaking at meeting in Madurai on Saturday to felicitate advocates who fought in the courts for rights of dalits of Uthapuram village, Karat said that according to the National Crime Records Bureau some of the cases have been pending for several years. Reeling out statistics, Karat said that on an average 32,600 odd cases of atrocities against dalits are booked across the country which means every day roughly 93 dalits are affected. "In 2012 alone, more than 45,000 cases of atrocities against dalits have been booked across the country. However, most of these cases remain pending without any progress. Only 23 people who were accused in these cases were convicted in the whole year,'' she said. At thes national level, only a meagre 3.6% of the cases against dalits see their logical end and the perpetrators are punished, she said.

She lauded the advocates for their role in Uthapuram incident and said that without the advocates, the atrocities against dalits of the Uthapuram could have continued. Karat pointed out that the court has ordered distribution of relief to affected dalits of Uthapuram, but the distribution is yet to be completed.

Advocates U Nirmalarani, R Rajkumar, D JAyakumar, P Selvaraj and P Rajan were felicitated at the event. Villagers of Uthapuram who were present at the function said that when they were harassed by the non- dalits of the village, several advocates they had approached refused to appear for them in the court. But the five took up the case and won it. They also refused to take their fee from the villagers in a goodwill gesture.
(Courtesy : Times of India)

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