Mangaluru: The prevention of atrocities against scheduled castes and tribes act now has become a tool for extortion and threatening. People belonging to the upper castes often tie up with a person from the SC/ST community to threaten honest business men and land owners with this act.
Vinod Devasia, a software engineer turned farmer, was assaulted by fifteen men while working on his newly brought farm on Friday, 13th March, in Belthangady Taluk. There is strong evidence that this act was carried out by the instructions of a neighbor who wanted to buy Vinod’s land cheap. Vinod then used all his resources to get a FIR filed.
A FIR was filed on 20 March 2015 almost a week after the incident. The very next day, an atrocity FIR was registered against Vinod. The fifteen men attacked Vinod and also registered an atrocity complaint gainst him which is clearly atrocious.
Under the atrocity act, the alleged criminal, supposedly, goes immediately to jail for a minimum of three months. Many people fearing this clause do not enter in to conflict. It is well known that the atrocity act has done little to uplift the SC/ST community. The SC/ST still face atrocities all across the country. But this act has been misused widely and has lost its purpose. Many people in the legal profession have spoken against this act. Is anyone listening?