Jaipur: A Dalit journalist has alleged that he was attacked by casteist elements while reporting on a public grievance programme in Rajasthan’s Udaipur district.
In his First Information Report (FIR) journalist Lakhan Salvi alleged that Gopal Lodha, a resident of Gogunda, beat him and abused him with casteist slurs on Wednesday, August 19. The accused reportedly blocked Salvi’s camera with his phone while the journalist was in the middle of reporting. Salvi was covering villagers submitting a memorandum at the Gogunda Sub-Divisional Magistrate office.
Salvi later moved away as the villagers took him to a nearby verandah. However, Lodha reportedly followed him there and assaulted him again.
In the FIR, Salvi claimed that Lodha struck him on the head and face with a “sharp pointed weapon”. He tried to target Salvi’s eye and hit his private parts. The attack stopped only after the bystanders intervened.
The journalist mentioned that the accused’s brother, Kailash Lodha, was also involved in the attack. Salvi requested the authorities to take action against the two brothers, who fled the scene, by filing a case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Salvi accused Gopal Lodha of previously subjecting him to caste-based abuse and said the August 19 incident involved both casteist slurs and a “fatal assault”.
The FIR was registered under Sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 126(2) (wrongful restraint) and 3(5) (joint liability) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with provisions of the SC/ST Act Sections 3(1) and 3(2)(va).
