An assistant police inspector posted at Kalamboli police station in Navi Mumbai was booked on Thursday for assaulting a 28-year-old Dalit man inside the police station premises. The officer, Dinesh Patil, has also been booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly hurling casteist abuses against the victim, Vikas Ujgare. Patil is alleged to have spat on Ujgare’s face and forced him to lick his shoes at the police station.
Speaking to the media, the victim Ujgare said that on January 6 around 8 pm, I was in a Chinese restaurant with my friend who had a fight with the owner of the restaurant. The owner attacked us and I called the police control room. Soon a team from Kalamboli police station reached the spot. Ujgare said that due to his injuries, he asked the police officials to take him to the hospital but they refused. After much pleading, the officials took me to a government hospital in Panvel. The doctors advised the police to take me to another hospital. However, the officers took me to the Kalamboli police station, where I was forced to sit on the floor. Then Patil came and started slapping me.
Ujgare said that the police identified him as the person who had complained against him. Holding grudges, Patil started hitting me on the face and neck. He then dragged me to a room where I was brutally assaulted. The officer then asked me about my caste… When I said I am a Dalit, he abused my caste and spat on me for being of a lower caste. Ujagar, 28, said Patil forced her to lick his shoes.