Noida: A viral video of a naked Dalit family protesting against alleged inaction of the UP Police in Gautam Budh Nagar district has stirred a fresh row over people's safety and policing in the Samajwadi Party ruled state.
Media reports on Friday said that a Dalit couple resorted to nude protest after the Greater Noida Police failed to register an FIR for an alleged robbery despite their repeated requests.
One report claimed that Sunil Gautam, a Dalit, approached the Dankaur Police Station along with his wife and a baby yesterday to file a case of robbery after he was robbed by a few muggers on Wednesday night near Atta in Greater Noida.
It was alleged that the policemen paid no heed to their request and refused to register a case in this regard after which the Dalit couple staged a protest in front of the police station and demanded swift action.
The Dalit couple was soon joined by some members from their village, who began shouting against the policemen. Their protest angered the police, which then resorted to a mild lathi-charge to disperse them. However, the situation turned worse and the Dalit couple allegedly shed their cloths to protest the police action against them.
Some other reports, however, said that the couple was beaten up badly by the cops and stripped naked.
The matter came to light after a video of the Dalit couple's nude protest and the police action was caught on camera and became viral on social media.
The villagers claim that the Dankaur Police Station's Station House Officer (SHO) refused to acknowledge the complaint from the couple and misbehaved with them and tore off their clothes leaving them naked.
The police, however, denied the allegations completely, saying the couple stripped themselves to put pressure on the policemen.
The police later arrested at least five people, including three women under IPC Sections 307, 232, 323, 147, 148, 353, 294, 394 after the incident.
