Shocking video of Indian police brutality against students sparks anger

A shocking video of student protesters at a peaceful demonstration against a caste-related death of a scholar being thrashed by Indian police in the capital New Delhi has sparked outrage across India.

New Delhi police become under fire after the footage of them beating peaceful university students the demonstration the death of a young scholar from the Dalit community, formerly known as untouchables, went viral.

The video, which was being played repeatedly on India’s TV news channels, shows police grabbing protesters by the hair and pinning them to the ground. The students are also heard screaming and running away as police chase them.

Vikas Kumar, an Indian photographer who covered the protest, said police attacked the protesters without any provocation.

“There was no provocation from the side of the protesters. It was a small group, non-violent and unarmed. The police could have easily managed such a small crowd without using brute force,” media outlets quoted Kumar as saying.

Reacting to the developments, Rajan Bhagat, a police spokesman, said he had ordered an inquiry into the violence which sparked outrage on social media. “We have ordered an inquiry into the incident and are analyzing the video.”

Delhi University students held a protest outside the office of Indian Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Irani in the Indian capital last weekend over the death of a Dalit scholar who allegedly committed suicide after he was suspended from a university in the country’s south.

Some Indian officials and the university’s vice-chancellor Appa Rao could face charges under a prevention of atrocities act that is designed to protect low-caste Hindus who are said to have faced historic abuse and discrimination.

On January 17, Rohit Vemula, a 26-year-old doctoral student, was found hanged in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

Vemula’s death, a highly emotional case that some have blamed on caste discrimination, has triggered protests in New Delhi, Hyderabad and several other major cities across India over the past hours.

Vemula along with his four comrades, all from India’s lowest Dalit social caste, were suspended by Hyderabad Central University (HCU) after allegedly getting involved in a tiff between two student groups in August last year.

Dalits frequently fall victim to acts of violence and prejudice across the region.

In an arson attack on the outskirts of New Delhi , a nine-month-old boy and his toddler sister belonging to Dalit community were burnt alive in October last year. The attackers set fire to the house with petrol in Faridabad, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) outside the capital.

The low-caste status of Dalits means that investigations into attacks on the community are often treated as a low-priority case by police.

There are approximately 180 million Dalits in India’s 1.25 billion population.

Caste-related violence has claimed several lives across India in recent years. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, indigenous peoples and Dalits continue to face discrimination, exclusion, and acts of communal violence.

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