After 2 years of requesting, the Dalit woman lost her patience and shouted at the public officials who failed to see her and her plea.

Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh: Every Monday, Kismatiya Saket, a resident of Singrauli, attends a public hearing at the Collectorate demanding justice regarding a family property dispute case. Despite her consistent complaints and pleas for an investigation, there has been no action by the authorities. On January 28 this year, after two years of requesting, the Dalit woman lost her patience and shouted at the public officials who failed to see her and her plea. The public officials responded by calling the police, who then dragged the woman out of the Collectorate office.

A video of the incident soon went viral. Kismatiya, dressed in a pink saree, can be seen being dragged out by two policewomen while a crowd stood watching and recording the incident on their phones.

The now-viral video made the rounds across social media with many condemning the inhumane act by public authorities.

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Congress’ Anand Rai demanded strict action against the collector, Chandrashekhar Shukla IAS. “An FIR should be registered against the collector. The Dalit woman went to him during the public hearing, and on his instructions, she was dragged out by the police. An investigation should be conducted after. But at least an FIR should be registered. Prima facie, it is more than sufficient evidence,” the tribal rights activist and Vyapam scam whistleblower told Timeline.

Timeline has reached out to Collector Chandrashekhar Shukla IAS and Superintendent of Police Manish Khatri IPS for a response and will update this story when we receive one.

Sandeep Shah, District Panchayat Member of Singrauli, told Timeline about the events that transpired in the Collectorate on Tuesday. Calling the event “tragic,” Shah described how this had become a common occurrence in Madhya Pradesh, especially in Singrauli.

He claimed that people from the Dalit community and other marginalised communities were openly looted and attacked in the region. Shah said that big companies took marginalised people’s lands and suppressed their voices.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is yet to make a comment on the incident.

Speaking on the Kismatiya’s case, Shah told Timeline that the only reason it is being discussed is because of the video that went out. He stated there are thousands of similar cases like Kismatiya’s that go unaccounted and unreported.

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He cited two cases that came to light last year. In July 2023, a video of an alleged representative of the BJP MLA, Pravesh Shukla, purportedly urinating on Pale Kol, a tribal labourer. The incident had sparked outrage with then-state chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan condemning the incident.

A month later, the son of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ram Lallu allegedly shot an Adivasi man in Singrauli. Vivekanand Vaishya allegedly fired at 34-year-old Surya Kumar Khairwar. An FIR was filed against Vaishya under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as well as the Arms Act.

“Yeh aam baat ho gaya hai (this has become a common thing),” said Shah. He further added how there was no fear among public officials anymore. Shah said how such incidents had become a daily occurrence in prominent districts in the state such as Rewa, Satna, and Maihar.

“Khule aam gunda gardi hai (There is hooliganism out in the open),” he said.

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Shah said that people do go to the police for help, but there is never any action from their side. Those who raise their voice against the atrocities by protesting are slapped with FIRs, claimed Shah, who himself has over 13 FIRs against him.

“Anyone who raised the issues of the public, who raised their voice against injustice, they were booked by the police in an attempt to suppress their voice,” Shah told Timeline.

So now what? Shah said that the people have planned to hold a protest against the police and the public officials who failed to take action in Kismatiya’s case for the past two years.