A disturbing video of a man being assaulted while tied to a tree is being shared on social media with captions claiming it to be a case of caste atrocity where a Dalit man was beaten by a leader of the ruling party - Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party - in Andhra Pradesh
BOOM spoke to the local police and confirmed that, both, the accused and victim belonged to the Dalit community. While news reports claim that the accused is a follower of the Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy led YSRC - the police have refuted the claim.
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The viral video shows a shirtless man tied to a tree while another man dressed in a blue uniform can be seen assaulting him. The man can be heard speaking in Telugu.
A video is being shared on social media with Hindi captions which translate to 'The video is from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. A Dalit man has been tied to a tree and is being beaten with shoes. The accused is a leader of the ruling YSR party. Dalits are treated the same way all over India. I will say this again, can anyone other than Dalit be tied to a tree and assaulted with shoes?'.
(Hindi: वीडियो आंध्र प्रदेश के विशाखापट्टनम का है। दलित जाति के व्यक्ति को बांधकर जूतों से पीटा जा रहा है। पीटने वाला सत्ताधारी YSR पार्टी का नेता है। दलितों की स्थिति पूरे भारत में एक जैसे है। मैं फिर कह रहा हूं, क्या दलितों के अलावा किसी को बांधकर जूते मारे जा सकते हैं? )
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According to a news report published in The Hindu on June 9, 2022, the incident took place at V Juttada village under Pendurthi police station limits of Visakahapatnam, AP. The report clearly states that, both, the victim and the accused belong to the Dalit community.
The report further stated that while the incident took place around ten days ago, it came to light only when Tarakeswara Rao, the victim, lodged a complaint with the local police. The accused Suri Babu, who is in custody now, had assaulted the victim over a missing mobile phone, the report mentioned.
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BOOM spoke to Pendurthi police to get more details on the case. Speaking to BOOM, a police personnel from Pendurthi police station said, "It's not an SC/ST case. Both are from the SC community. The accused Suryanarayana alias Suri Babu is in custody."
The police personnel refuted the claim that the accused is a YSRC party leader. "He is a security guard," the policeman told BOOM.
However, news reports by India Ahead news and Eenadu (Telugu) have stated that the accused was a follower of the Jagan Mohan Reddy led YSRC party.
BOOM could independently not verify the political allegiance of the accused but we were able to confirm that, both, the accused and the victim belonged to the Dalit community.