Gujarat govt data reveal Dalits 'not safe' in state, anti-atrocities law being ignored

By A Representative
The Gujarat government data have revealed a total of 5,588 incidents of atrocities on Dalits have been reported in different police stations of the State in the last four years, from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2022. Of this, a total of 123 were murders, with Ahmedabad district topping with the highest number (28), followed by Rajkot district (21), Surat district (15) and Vadodara district (7).
Data also show that in all, 333 cases of serious injury and 480 cases of rape against Dalits were registered in different police stations of Gujarat. Data show that in Ahmedabad district there were 55 serious injuries and 91 incidents of rape, Rajkot district had 40 serious injuries and 57 incidents of rape, Surat district had 11 serious injuries and 25 rapes, and Vadodara district had 7 cases of serious injury and 40 incidents of rape.
The data also reveal that Kutch district had the highest number of incidents of atrocities on Dalits in four years in the state with 515 incidents registered with the police, followed by Banaskantha district, where 322 incidents of atrocities were reported, and Bhavnagar district where 310 incidents were reported.

Obtained by Dalit rights activist Kantilal Parmar, who had sought information on different types of atrocities from the state government, data show that "Dalits are not safe in Gujarat and the state government has failed to take strict action under different legal provisions to stop the unabated cycle of atrocities on Dalits", he said.
This also suggests that there was tardy implementation of the anti-atrocities Act and the rules made to effect the law, Pamar, who obtained the data from the Director, Office of Scheduled Caste Welfare, working under the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Gandhinagar, said.

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