Chandigarh, May 20 (IANS) Taking notice of an incident in which a 12-year-old boy was thrashed in Punjab's Malout town, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), on the orders of its Chairman Vijay Sampla, on Friday issued a notice to the state and sought an action-taken report by May 26.
As per information received by the NCSC, a Dalit woman in Malout in Sri Muktsar Sahib district alleged a non-Dalit man thrashed her son and later uploaded the crime video on the social media.
"One day, he (the accused) visited my house, stripped my 12-year-old son and thrashed him brutally. He also shot a video of the incident that he made it viral," the woman said in a complaint.
She said the police did not help her even when the accused threatened her inside a police station.
The commission asked the Divisional Commissioner (Ferozepur division), the Deputy Commissioner of Sri Muktsar Sahib), the Inspector General of Police (Faridkot range) and the Senior Superintendent of Police to investigate the case and to submit the report within seven days.
Sampla cautioned the officers that if the action-taken report is not received within the timeframe, the commission might exercise the powers of the civil court conferred on it under Article 338 of the Constitution and issue summon for personal appearance before it in New Delhi.
The SKM also reiterated that the name, banner or platform of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will not be used by any political party or candidate in the run-up to the Assembly polls in Punjab, scheduled on February 20.
Appearing for the Punjab government, Senior Advocate P. Chidambaram argued that Majithia has gone into hiding after the rejection of his bail plea in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and now he is appearing through counsel.
Interestingly, the move comes a week after neighbouring Madhya Pradesh permitted liquor sales at all its airports, select supermarkets in four major cities and also allowed issuing home bar licences to those earning Rs 1 crore or more annually.
The incident took place on Wednesday and the accused are said to be illicit liquor sellers in the area. It has been alleged that the woman was also gang-raped. A video of the incident showed the woman being attacked.
Both Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu have urged Rahul Gandhi to announce a CM face well ahead of the polls, instead of going with the collective leadership.
The ministry of external affairs organised the summit virtually on Thursday which was attended by the heads of all five Central Asian countries -- Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan.
