UP boy forced to 'lick feet', 8 held

Rae Bareli/Lucknow, April 19

A purported video of a Class X Dalit student being beaten up and made to lick the feet of a man surfaced on social media here, prompting the police to lodge a case and arrest eight persons, officials said on Tuesday.

The incident also triggered a spate of allegations with another video, purported to be that from the victim’s side, emerging on social media in which one person is heard making accusations on members of the upper caste for thrashing the boy finding him alone.

The teenager’s family also met Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow to apprise him of the incident. According to police, on April 10, the boy, a resident of Jagatpur town, was taken to Ramlila Maidan on a motorcycle by his friend. Police said he was later taken towards Salon Road, from where some other youths took him to a garden. The attackers beat him up in the garden, they said.

A video of them allegedly beating up the boy and forcing him to lick the feet of one of the attackers was recorded and shared on social media, they said. After the video went viral, the boy along with his mother reached Kotwali police station and lodged a complaint, they said. Police, however, did not elaborate on the reasons as to why the boy was assaulted.

An FIR under relevant sections has been registered in the matter and eight accused have been arrested and sent to jail, Dalmau Circle Officer (CO) Ashok Singh said. The incident took a political colour with a large number of people along with Congress leader Sushil Pasi reaching the collectorate in Rae Bareli on Monday and holding a demonstration. —