Preethy Sekhar, Joint Secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) writes:
In a gruesome incident of hate crime, a Dalit youth has been murdered in Mumbai.
On Saturday, 7 May 2022, a horrifying incident took place in Bhayander in the northern suburbs of Mumbai. Thirty year old sanitation worker Krishna Palaram Tusamad was beaten to death reportedly by the owner of an imitation ornaments factory where he was working as a sanitation worker.
Krishna belonged to the Valmiki community, which is a Dalit linguistic minority community in Mumbai. Judging by the accounts of those who saw the body at the hospital where Krishna was brought dead, he was beaten brutally by iron rods with his hands and feet tied.
In the accompanying photographs, you can see the marks of brutality on Krishna’s face and his back. Your hands and feet tied, iron rods crushing your face and torso, begging for mercy, wishing for death to come and stop the pain but yet wanting to cling to your life even in the last flicker of your consciousness — look at those photos closely and you will realize what it is to live the life of a Dalit in ‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’ including ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’!
The local Police has arrested the factory owner but surprisingly they have not included the provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. No government official visited the family of the victim or attend the funeral! Such callous approach from the government of Maharashtra is simply not acceptable.
My comrades in Mumbai have firmly decided that they will not tolerate such nonsense. Comrade K. Narayanan – Mumbai president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and working president of the CITU-affiliated Saphai Shramik Union, has made the following demands in a letter to the Chief Minister:
1) Add provisions of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the case.
2) Ensure efficient, flawless and speedy Police investigation. Fast track the trial and see to it that all the perpetrators get the severest punishment.
3) Provide immediate financial relief to the victim’s helpless family.
The CPI(M), Saphai Shramik Union, Jaati Ant Sangharsh Samiti and the wider democratic collective of Mumbai have taken up this fight. We want immediate and effective intervention from the highest levels of government in Maharashtra. If is not forthcoming, the ruling establishment be better ready for sleepless nights!
Justice for Krishna Tusamad is the clarion call of Mumbai today!
