FIR Registered Against All Brahmins Of A Village In Bihar In An Incident Of Assault On A Dalit Family

Patna: An FIR was registered against almost all the brahmins in a village of Darbhanga district of Bihar under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 for allegedly assaulting and abusing a Dalit family.

Over a dozen people have been arrested so far, though what makes the matter strange is that the FIR mentions 70 named and around 100 to 150 unnamed accused, which equals the entire population of male adult brahmins in the village – many of who are working in other states to eke out a living.

The strange case lodged by one Asarfi Paswan is related to an incident of violence and vandalism that allegedly occurred in Harinagar village under Kusheshwar Asthan police station area on January 31.

It is related to wages due to Asarfi’s son Vikram Paswan over working for one Hemkant Jha of the village for the past five years. Both the sides held a ‘panchayat’ (settlement meeting) on the issue on January 30 in which other villagers also participated. It was marred by ruckus and dispute.

“My son Vikram was returning home after purchasing vegetables at around seven next morning (January 31), when Hemkant and others conspired and armed with sticks, iron rods, axes, sharp-edged tools, bricks, stones and other weapons pointed out at him, uttered caste-based expletives and chased him with the intention of making a deadly assault,” Asarfi wrote in his complaint to the police.

He has named 70 people, even mentioning the names of their respective fathers, along with 100 to 150 unnamed people in the complaint. “Vikram ran and came home. On which all of them also barged in, dragged and pushed him to the floor, and thrashed him badly. One Phulkant Jha asked others to kill him, on which Hemkant, Omprakash Jha, Srikant Jha and others hit him on the head with iron rods and smashed his skull. He became unconscious. My other son Rajgir Paswan intervened to save him. He was meted out the same treatment,” Asarfi further stated.

While all this was going on, Avinash Paswan, Ajay Paswan and Jigar Paswan intervened. They were also attacked in the same manner and received head injuries. Asarfi’s wife Ramtara Devi and granddaughter Komal Kumari were also assaulted in the incident.

“The attackers hit my wife with sticks and rods and tore her clothes off when she fell on the ground. My granddaughter was hit and her hip was fractured. I was also attacked with a stick and I also fell on the ground,” Asarfi said.

The complainant further stated that the attackers looted gold ornaments worth 30 grams, silver anklets, Rs 2 lakh cash kept for the marriage of his granddaughter, LCD TV, fridge and mobile phones. Four motorcycles kept at his home were also damaged and a nearby ‘line hotel’ (restaurant along a highway) was also vandalised. They also threatened that the family would not be allowed to stay in the village.

Kusheshwar Asthan Ankit Choudhary registered an FIR no. 22/2026 under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. “There was a money-related dispute between two sides from the past. Some anti-social elements of Harinagar village are trying to give it a caste colour. We have arrested 12 people from the side that has done atrocities on the other side that is of Scheduled Caste. We will take further action on people whose involvement comes to light in the course of investigation,” Biraul deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Prabhakar Tiwary told ETV Bharat.

Meanwhile, the National Crime Investigation Bureau (NCIB), which is an independent, civil society organisation working across the country to promote awareness against crime, corruption and anti-national activities highlighted the case and expressed surprise over the inclusion of names of all the brahmins of the village in the FIR.

“See the strange FIR registered in Darbhanga district of Bihar. Not a single brahmin of the village was spared. An FIR has been lodged against them under the SC ST Act. Allegation is that the entire village exploited them,” the NCIB posted on X along with photographs of the complaint and the FIR.

“All the brahmins of Harinagar village in the district were made oppressors and tyrants, and FIR was registered against them under the SC ST Act and other sections. A majority of the brahmins named in the FIR are working in Delhi and Mumbai for the survival of their families,” the NCIB further stated in the post.

Meanwhile, Kusheshwar Asthan SHO Ankit Choudhary and sub-inspector Manoj Sharma have been suspended for assaulting a medicine businessman Anand Khetan, who had visited the police station on February 1 to enquire about the challan of his vehicle.