Lucknow horror: Elderly Dalit man forced to lick ground after 'accidentally unrinating' near temple; politics heats up

NEW DELHI: An elderly Dalit man was allegedly forced to lick the ground near a temple on the outskirts of Lucknow on Diwali after being accused of urinating there, police said. As per news agency PTI, The accused has been arrested, while the victim’s family insists the incident was an accident.Rampal Rawat, 60, a resident of Kakori, told police that he was drinking water near Sheetla Maataa Mandir around 7pm on Monday when Swami Kant accused him of urinating. “I said I have not urinated, water fell while I was coughing, but he hurled casteist abuses and forced me to lick it,” Rawat said in his complaint.His grandson, Mukesh Kumar, explained that Rawat suffers from breathing difficulties, and had accidentally urinated while coughing. “My grandfather got frightened, and when asked to lick the ground, he did so. Afterwards, the accused made him wash the spot,” Mukesh said.According to police, the main temple is around 40 metres from the site of the incident. A case was registered against Swami Kant under sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(3) (criminal intimidation), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

A police source clarified, “The victim says he was forced to lick the ground, while the accused claims he was only asked to touch it. The matter is under investigation.”The incident triggered a political storm. Opposition parties criticised the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, calling it a “blot on humanity.” Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav wrote on X, “Someone’s mistake does not justify humiliating, inhumane punishment. Only change can bring change!”

The Congress also condemned the incident, stating on X that “an enraged RSS worker forced an elderly Dalit man to lick urine after he accidentally urinated in a temple courtyard due to illness. This reflects the anti-Dalit mentality prevalent in the BJP-RSS ecosystem.”Police, however, noted that the accused has no verified links to the RSS.(With agency inputs)