Atrocity Act has become a tool to exact revenge with a minor now being booked under the Act. Instead of attending classes, he is forced to attend the cases filed against him and his family by his neighbouring Buddhist SC family.

Minor among those booked under Atrocity Act

A heart-breaking case has come to the fore from Maharashtra where a family is facing charges of POCSO, Rape, and SC-ST Atrocity. Even the family’s minor son, an eight-year-old, has not been spared. The case has reportedly been filed by their Buddhist SC neighbour.

A video of Vaishnav Satyawan Nimse was shared by a netizen (History of India) in which the minor boy is seen asking some pointed questions. “I’m an ordinary boy attending a normal school. While other boys of my age go about doing routine things like attending classes, playing cricket, drawing, and using the mobile among other things. However, I am forced to do different things because I have been made an accused under the POCSO and Atrocity Acts and also accused of assaulting a disabled person”, says Vaishnav.

“Police official Nalavade has booked me in the above cases and named me in FIR number 227. The police searched for us in Junnar and on not finding us there they declared us to be absconding. I asked my father about the cases but he did not say anything. Even my school teacher did not answer my questions”, he further says. He then requested the CM and DCM to clarify what these Acts and cases were so that he and other children like him would understand their meaning.

The mindless application of a law supposedly meant for safeguarding the rights of an ‘oppressed’ section of society is actually turning into a weapon to victimise the general sections of society. Is there any logic in booking an 8-year-old under the Atrocity Act?

Previous instances of misuse of the Act

In August 2022, a young CA identified as Rakshit Khandelwal (25) jumped to his death in Rajasthan’s Jaipur after his mother was falsely trapped under the Atrocity law. Rajasthan witnessed several such incidents where young lives were lost due to false cases. In Churu, 26-year-old jeweller Uttam Soni Kudel died after jumping in front of a train at the end of July last year. He was pushed to take the extreme step as a woman and her four friends had threatened to file false cases of rape and the SC-ST Atrocity Act.

A standard 12 student in Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) Kannauj Abhinav Pratap committed suicide in jail after an SC woman got him arrested under the Atrocity law. Even the Prayagraj (Allahabad) High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the misuse of the SC-ST Atrocity Act.

“The Allahabad High Court has ordered a CBI investigation into a clutch of alleged ‘fake’ cases filed against many, including advocates of the high court and district court, to extract money from them. The court was told that several ‘gangs’ run by women at the behest of advocates and other high-profile persons would trap innocent persons in fake cases and then extract money after a charge sheet was filed”, reported The Economic Times.

It is a matter of great misfortune that a one-sided narrative is peddled by the media in favour of the so-called backward classes. However, neither the media nor political parties care for the plight of those belonging to the general category who are repeatedly victimized using false cases. If all are equal before the law then why are victims like Rakshit, Uttam, and Vishnu Tiwari among others denied justice? Isn’t it time to review the Act and ensure strict punishment for those misusing it?