Bhubaneswar: The Congress on Tuesday expressed anguish over the alleged torture of two Dalit men in Odisha’s Ganjam district after falsely being accused of cow smuggling.
Nine people have been detained in connection with the Sunday incident when a mob forcibly shaved the heads of the two men, forced them to crawl, eat grass, and drink drain water, while they were transporting a cow and two calves on a cargo auto-rickshaw to their village from Haripur as part of a dowry for an upcoming wedding in their family.
A video purportedly, showing the two men crawling with grass clamped between their teeth, has triggered widespread outrage in political circles. Preliminary investigations, however, indicated that the attackers’ motive was not animal protection but extortion since they had demanded Rs 30,000 from the duo to release the cattle.
On Monday night, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das formed a five-member panel headed by its legislature party leader Rama Chandra Kadam to probe the incident at Jahada village under Dharakote police limits. . Other members of the panel are OPCC vice president Lalatendu Mohapatra, MLA Ramesh Jena, its general secretary Subarna Nayak and secretary Tuleswar Nayak. “The committee has been asked to visit the village, engage directly with the victims, and submit an immediate report to the Pradesh Congress,” a party leader said.
Also Read: Tonsured, Forced To Crawl: Rahul Gandhi Calls Out BJP Govt In Odisha Over ‘Torture’ Of Dalit Men
This came even as senior Congress leader and LoP in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi condemned the alleged atrocities, calling it an attack on the constitutional values of equality and justice. He also highlighted a rise in atrocities against women, ST, and SC communities in BJP-ruled states, including Odisha, and urged the state government to arrest the perpetrators and deliver justice to the victims. “The country will be run by the Constitution, not Manusmriti,” he added.
