Misuse of Dalit rights: Amid protests, Aligarh woman narrates her ordeal

Aligarh: Amid large scale protests by Scheduled caste and scheduled tribes over the SC/ST prevention of atrocities act; a family here is alleging that a man named Vishnu misused the SC/ST act and lodged 12 cases on them in 2010. As per the family, all the cases were filed over land dispute and they are largely suffering because of that now. Also, the family claims that Vishu has made them pay over Rs 1lakh so far as compensation.  The family further claims to have submitted report to National Commission for Minorities. A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court took note of the rampant misuse of the stringent Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against government servants and held that there shall be no immediate arrest on any complaint filed under the law. Before arresting a public servant under the Act, a preliminary probe by an officer not below the rank of deputy superintendent is a must, the court said. This order was later revoked, which led to massive protests all over the country, which involed stopping trains, burning vehicles, vandalizing buildings and raising slogans.