Dalit boy stripped, forced to dance for stealing wire in Rajasthan’s Kota, 6 arrested

Rajasthan police on Saturday said they have arrested six people, including a father-son duo, for allegedly stripping a 12-year-old Dalit boy naked, forcing him to dance and recording the same in Kota after the minor was caught stealing wire from a comedy event.

In the alleged video, the boy can be seen dancing to a song while four to five men sit around, forcing him to dance with a smile. The matter came to light after the Kota Police noticed the viral video online. The police located the victim and encouraged his family to file an official complaint against the accused.

The victim’s father, in his complaint, said his son attended a comedy event on Friday night organized at a fair in GAD Circle. Between 1 to 4am, around four to five men assaulted his son, accusing him (the minor boy) of stealing a wire. He further alleged that the accused stripped his son naked and forced him to dance. They also recorded the same.

According to reports, based on the complaint, the Kota police filed an FIR under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) against six individuals.

The Kota police identified the arrested accused as Kshitij Gurjar (24) alias Bittu, Ashish Upadhyay alias Vikku (52), his son Yayati Upadhyay (24) alias Gungun, Gourav Soni (21), Sandeep Singh (30) alias Rahul Bannasha, and Sumit Kumar Sain (25).

During the preliminary investigation, the Kota police found that the accused suspected the minor boy of stealing wire from their music system. All the accused were produced in court.