On June 14, 2023, in the Hasanpur village in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district, a dispute broke out between two neighbouring families over the felling of a tree. A 32-year-old man named Satyendra Kumar Jatav had gotten injured in the incident. Several leftist media outlets and politicians used the incident to spread caste hatred by spreading fake news pitting Dalits against upper castes.
Projecting it as a caste-based Dalit versus Thakur brawl, various mainstream media houses reported that the Dalit victim, Satyendra Kumar Jatav, was thrashed and his private part was ‘slashed’ by members of ‘upper caste’ after he objected to the felling of a Babool tree on his farm. It was also reported how the victim’s family was ‘forced’ to vacate their home and leave the village after the incident.
Notably, Satyendra Kumar’s injury was deemed “ordinary” (superficial wounds) in his medical reports. Moreover, while speaking to OpIndia, Satyendra Kumar’s family blamed politicians and the media for misrepresenting the matter.
What did the FIR state
On June 16, 2023, the Etah police registered an FIR against two accused- Vikram Singh and Satyendra alias Bhuray Thakur based on the complaint filed by Satyendra Jatav.
According to the complainant, on June 14, the two accused were cutting a Babool tree on his land. When he objected to the same, Vikram Singh and Satyendra alias Bhuray Thakur thrashed him. The complainant also alleged that one of the accused, Vikram, who had a knife with him, attacked him. He claimed that in the attack, “more than half of the diameter of his private part was cut”.
The victim, Satyendra Kumar, also claimed that his four-month-pregnant wife was also “hit with an axe and badly beaten up”.
Based on the complaint, the police registered a case against Satyendra Singh and Vikram Singh under sections 452, 323, 504 and 506 of the IPC under the SC/ST Act and started investigating the matter. FIR copy is available with OpIndia.
What did the Etah police say
The Etah police called it a matter of dispute over the felling of a tree. The police also said that the allegation that his private part was ‘slashed’ with a knife was wrong and misleading. The police also negated reports that claimed that the victim family was ‘forced’ to flee the village after the incident.
पेड़ काटने को लेकर हुए विवाद में दो पक्षों में गाली गलौज व मारपीट हुई, मेडिकल रिपोर्ट से निजी अंग काटे जाने की पुष्टि नहीं हुई है, प्रारंभिक छानबीन से भय के कारण घर छोड़ने की पुष्टि नहीं हुई है, प्रकरण में अभियोग पंजीकृत है, थानास्तर से आवश्यक वैधानिक कार्यवाही की जा रही है।
— Etah Police (@Etahpolice) June 27, 2023
DSP Vikrant Dwivedi said, “The allegation that his private part was slashed with a knife is wrong. There was a rupture in the foreskin caused during the scuffle. Medical examination has established that there was no detachment of the penis. The entire matter is being investigated.”
Notably, OpIndia also has a copy of the victim’s medical report. In this report, the injury on the private part has been described as ordinary or superficial.
Leftist media and casteist leaders spread confusion
The Bhim Army and several media outlets tried to paint this issue in a casteist light. To play out the Dalits were under attack narrative, various angles, raging from the ‘slashing’ of the private part of the victim to the exodus of the ‘oppressed’ Dalit family were peddled by the media.
Amidst several claims that were circulated by the media, OpIndia visited the Hasanpur hamlet in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district in order to meet the families involved in the brawl and people in their neighbourhood to uncover the truth.
Etah town is located about 6 miles from Hasanpur. We came across a canal on the way to the settlement. This canal borders Prithvipur, a town and a Nagar parishad in Niwari district in Madhya Pradesh. The Hasanpur village has a mixed population of Thakurs and Dalits (Katheria).
OpIndia met some Dalit youths and teenagers outside the village plucking mangoes and grazing cows. They told us that the villagers here live together in harmony and there is no such thing as casteism.
No discrimination on the basis of caste: Village priest spoke to OpIndia
We reached Hasanpur, the village of the Dalit victim Satyendra Jatav, after driving through Prithvipur. On the side of the road, close to where the village boundary began, an idol of Lord Shiva was erected. When we first arrived in the village, we came across a government school. A temple was located in front of this school. OpIndia spoke to Ram Shankar, the temple’s priest, who told us how there has never been any sort of discrimination, especially based on caste, amongst the villagers. Everyone visits the temple and worships together, he said.
Victim’s family found to be at their home
Several media houses had reported how the victim’s Dalit family was ‘forced’ to leave the village after the incident. Times of India went a step ahead and reported how out of fear, three Dalit families had left the village after placing a ‘house on sale’ board on their doors. When the OpIndia team went to the victim’s home, we discovered that his entire family was pretty much living there. Satyendra Jatav, the victim, his wife, and their children were, in fact, all at home, when he reached. When we questioned him about media rumours that he was forced to leave the village after the incident, he stated that he had only travelled for medical treatment.
A brawl between two families was given a castiest angle by leftist media and politicians
Satyendra Jatav, the victim, stated in his conversation with OpIndia that the rumours being circulated about him trouble him. He voiced his displeasure at how the media and politicians have twisted a dispute between two families by giving it a casteist angle. “I have good relationships with many Thakurs, Brahmins, and Yadavs, among other villagers,” he said, adding how many Thakurs refer to him as their son, and he calls them uncle.
Notably, Satyendra in his police complaint had called the accused Vikram Singh and Satyendra alias Bhuray Thakur as anti-social elements. Speaking to OpIndia, he reiterated how many Yadavs, Thakurs, and Pandits in the village are also fed up with the harassment meted out at them by Vikram Singh and Satyendra alias Bhuray Thakur.
Pooja Jatav, the wife of Satyendra Jatav, told OpIndia that certain politicians and the media have overblown the matter. She too asserted that it was a caste-based dispute but a petty brawl. “I am afraid of politicians,” Pooja lamented.
The husband and wife then showed us the tree that sparked the altercation and demanded harsh punishment for the perpetrators.
Have faith in police: Victim’s family
Satyendra and his wife expressed satisfaction over the police action in the matter. Sayendra also told that his uncle’s son is also a constable in UP Police. During our visit to the village, we also saw policemen patrolling the area.
Accused are absconding
Vikram Singh and Satendra Singh are absconding. The duo are members of the same family. The police claimed that they are conducting raids and a manhunt has been launched to nab the culprits, at the earliest. When the OpIndia team arrived at the accused’s home, we saw one elderly guy and a few women present there. A lock was hanging from the door.
VHP seeks action against rumour mongers
Taking cognizance of OpIndia’s video, Vishwa Hindu Parishad has demanded action against those spreading rumours in the Etah case. VHP’s national spokesperson Vinod Bansal has termed the propaganda done in Etah as a conspiracy to break the unity of Hindu society. He urged the UP Police to look into the situation and punish those responsible strictly.
सुरक्षित यूपी के संगठित हिंदू समाज में दरार डाल कर वैमनस्य फैलाने वाले कथित मीडिया के उन शांपों को भी अब @Uppolice को कुचलना होगा जो मनगढ़ंत कहानियां बनाकर शासन व समाज को बदनाम करने के षड्यंत्र रच रहे हैं।
— विनोद बंसल Vinod Bansal (@vinod_bansal) June 27, 2023
ग्राउंड रिपोर्ट हेतु धन्यवाद @STVRahul जी। https://t.co/ZYka1CUtUP
Vinod Bansal tweeted, “The UP police will now have to crush those snakes of the so-called media who are sowing discord in the organised Hindu society of safe UP and who are planning to defame the government and the society by fabricating stories.”
