NEW DELHI – A viral video shows an Indian police officer confessing to lodging false cases against Dalits, the lowest caste in the Hindu community, and Muslims.
The policewoman speaking in the video, according to Indian media, appears to be Bhagyashree Navtake, Deputy Superintendent of Police in Maharashtra’s Beed District.
In the clip, Navtake is telling the accused arrested in a Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) Act case, how she framed the low caste Hindus and Muslim in the fake cases.
“I tie the hands and legs of Dalits and take out my anger about [the Atrocities Act] on them,” the deputy superintendent said.
“The person in the video is heard saying that she has filed false cases against 21 Dalits who had gone to make complaints under the SC/ST Act at her police stations. At the beginning of the video, the person also says that she has filed cases under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code, or attempt to murder, against Muslims, so that they do not get bail easily,” reported Scroll.in.
https://youtu.be/GtCqAFLjuPE
The clip, which has sparked protests in Maharashtra, has been broadcast by several television channels.
Talking to a group of Marathas arrested under the SC/ST Act, the police officer said that if she freed them now, it would spark protests against the police.
Sharing her past experience of dealing with a similar case during his deputation in Pimpri near Pune city, she said that she did not detain the accused Marathas in that case for three days, but instead told them how to file a fake counter case against the Dalits in question.
She advised the accused to file a case under Section 122 of the Indian Penal Code, which is an offence to bear arms without a licence.
