Dalit Teen Killed in India Amid Protests Against Racism in US

By Muskan Bhatnagar

It's not been long since the US witnessed the brutal killing of a 46-year-old black man named George Floyd following racism, India too recently witnessed a case of caste discrimination. The world is very well aware of what happened in the US and how an innocent man was murdered by the police of his country. The incident sparked violent protests across the United States.

People from other nations also took stand for the cause and were seen on the roads, protesting for the same. Indians too expressed their views and stood against the idea of racism.

However, very recently on June 6, a 17-year-old Dalit boy, Vikas Jatav, was killed in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh over an altercation that with the upper caste village youth for praying at a temple.

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The incident took place in the Domkheda village at night when Vikas was sleeping, four youth visited his house and shot him dead. They threatened his family as the four men fled.

According to the victim's family, he was prevented from entering a local Shiva temple which caused an argument between Vikas and the upper caste youth. He was later beaten up and casteist slurs were used against him. During this incident, some village locals saved him.

While on the same day, the victim approached the police and complained about the incident. However, the police did not take any action against the accused.

A week after this incident 4 people including Horam Chauhan and Lala Chouhan, shot Vikas as he was sleeping. Hearing the gunshots, his family came to rescue him. Vikas is said to be bleeding profusely after being shot and succumbed to the injuries before reaching the hospital.

"Around 12.30 am in the night, my brother was sleeping on the front porch of our house when four youths stormed inside. One of them shot him dead with a revolver and ran away.", says Dinesh, elder brother of the 17-year-old.

This case was no less than the case in the US. After all, in both cases, an innocent was brutally murdered just because of the inequality which exists in our society.

There's hardly any media coverage or outrage regarding the case in Uttar Pradesh. Indians stood in support of the in the US, which is an ideal thing to do but why don't we show support when it happens in our own country. Has Indian society normalized the killings of lower caste members?

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Meanwhile, this is a case which we was luckily noticed, otherwise, countless number of such cases go unreported. Be it caste inequality or racism, the people belonging to these communities have been facing discrimination and oppression since the start, and even after repeated efforts to bring equality in society, such cases to take place. There are laws against such practices, but most of them remain a mere piece of paper.

The world needs to unite and fight against injustice which is taking place against the innocents, irrespective of the country, caste, religion, etc.