There’s continuing outrage in India over a video appearing to show a man urinating on another man from a tribal community in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
The video went viral on social media, and the accused, Pravesh Shukla, has been arrested and charged under the laws protecting socially underprivileged and indigenous communities.
In what is being seen as an attempt at damage control, Chief Minister of the state, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, invited the victim to his home to apologise to him and washed his feet in a sign of penance.
Earlier, he had also expressed outrage at the incident and ordered the administration to impose the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against Mr Shukla, whose house has since been partially demolished over illegal extensions.
Opposition Congress party spokesperson, Shobha Oza, told Newsday this incident raises the issue of alleged suppression of Dalits and tribal people and the response of the authorities.
“This is a farce. This Chief Minister has been in office for 18 years and [that’s] a long period. Atrocities [against minorities ought to] have been under control.”