Himachal Pradesh, humiliated 12-year-old Dalit boy commits suicide

The boy, accused of ‘contaminating’ the home of a higher caste family, was beaten and locked in a barn. They demanded a goat from his parents as a sacrifice to ‘purify’ the home. The bishop of the diocese of Simla and Chandigarh told AsiaNews: ‘This is not an individual tragedy, but a social sin. We are all responsible if structures of discrimination go unpunished.’

Shimla (AsiaNews) – A 12-year-old Dalit boy took his own life by ingesting poison after being beaten and locked in a barn by some upper-caste women who accused him of ‘contaminating’ their home by accidentally entering it.

The dramatic episode took place on 16 September in the village of Limbda, a subdivision of Rohru, in the district of Shimla, in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

According to reports, the child, a sixth-grade pupil belonging to the Koli community, had gone to buy goods in a shop run by a woman named Pushpa Devi. Finding no one at the counter, he entered the adjacent house in search of help. As a result of this gesture, he was allegedly attacked by Pushpa Devi and two other women.

His father said: "My son had gone to buy some groceries at a shop run by Pushpa Devi, next to her house. There was no one at the counter, so he entered the house via the balcony to look for someone who could help him. For this reason alone, Pushpa Devi and two other women punished him.‘

According to the complaint, the boy was accused of ’polluting" the house, and the Rajput family demanded a goat to be sacrificed to purify the home as punishment. Pushpa Devi, after capturing the frightened boy, ‘called my younger brother,’ added the father, who works as a bricklayer, ‘and told him that my son had “contaminated” her house and that he should tell us that we had to give her a goat for sacrifice.’

The child was locked in a barn and beaten, with the threat that he would not be released until the family brought the goat. Shortly afterwards, traumatised by the humiliation, the 12-year-old swallowed a poisonous substance. He was rushed first to the Rohru health centre and then to Indira Gandhi Medical College in Shimla, where he died during treatment.

The police have opened an investigation against the accused women, who have already been granted bail by a local court.

The incident has sparked anger in the local community. The Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch (DSMM) has strongly condemned the incident, calling for the immediate arrest of those responsible under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, and threatening a protest movement if no action is taken.

Monsignor Sahaya Thatheus Thomas, bishop of Simla and Chandigarh, told AsiaNews, commenting on the incident: "This is not simply a personal tragedy, but a social sin. The Gospel teaches us that sin is not only individual, but also collective; our society is responsible when structures of discrimination and untouchability remain unpunished and unchanged.

Such dehumanising words and acts, the prelate continued, are not simply “customs”, but a denial of our shared humanity, a violation of the image of God present in every person. Treating someone as “untouchable” means denying this image, putting our fear, our prejudice or our caste before the dignity that God has given us."

‘Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus,’ concludes Monsignor Sahaya Thatheus Thomas. "We too must weep. Not as passive spectators, but as people who share the burden, who seek justice and who refuse to allow pain to become just a number. And we must listen to the voice of this innocent child. He did not enter that house with malice, but seeking help, and he was met with contempt and cruelty. His death cries out to us: “Am I not your brother? Am I not your son?”. May this boy and his family obtain justice."

Fr Devasagaya Raj, former national secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India's Office for Dalits and Disadvantaged Classes, told AsiaNews: ‘Most primary and secondary school children do not even know what caste is. The concept of purity and contamination that is part of this system leads people to believe that there are pure and impure people.’

The priest recalled that "Article 17 of the Indian Constitution abolishes the practice of untouchability and prohibits its application in any form, declaring such acts punishable offences. Only the strict application of the law on the prevention of atrocities against disadvantaged classes and recognised tribes and the punishment of those responsible for the death of the 12-year-old boy will prevent similar atrocities from happening again in the future."