Banka Sarki, 62, and his daughter-in-law Chinkala Sarki, 35, of Dhim in Bandhu2 have arrived in the district headquarters Martadi on June 26 after being beaten up by a villager. The place is two-day walk from the district headquarters.

According to Banka Sarki, local villager Bam Bahadur Rawat had beaten them up on June 19 after they tried to stop Rawat’s niece from cutting grass in their field. “He also verbally abused us calling racial names”, Banka added. Bam Bahadur could not be contacted for comment.

Banka has sustained deep cut on the forehead while Chinkala is in pain as she was reportedly kicked by Rawat. They have received threatment at the District Hospital and verbally complained at the District Police Office, confirmed DSP Bahadur Jung Malla. The Sarkis filed an appeal at the office of INSEC asking for help to initiate action against Rawat.

They also added that they had gone to local Kunna Police Station to complaint about the incident on June 20 but were told to go to the headquarters to file their complaint. The DPO said that they had summoned the accused to Martadi for investigation.

INSEC held a meeting of the dalit leaders and DSP Malla along with the victims at the office following the victims’ approach. The meeting decided to make best effort to bring the accused under legal proceeding.