A man was detained by police in the Madhya Pradesh state of central India for publicly urinating on a tribal worker.
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, a piece of legislation designed to defend historically oppressed groups, is the basis for Pravesh Shukla's charges.
After a video of him punching the man was widely circulated on social media, he was detained.
Outrage over the incident has spread throughout the nation.
Shukla has not addressed the incident, nor have his family members.
Shukla is allegedly connected to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power both nationally and in the state of Madhya Pradesh, according to some Congress politicians who belong to the main opposition party. The claim has been refuted by the BJP.
Additionally, the police steadfastly declined to address the allegation, claiming that "the facts of the case need to be first investigated.".
Despite laws that protect them, discrimination against tribespeople continues to affect them on a daily basis, along with other members of lower castes, who are estimated to number 200 million in total.
Shukla is seen smoking a cigarette and peeing on the face of the man who is sitting on the road in the video, which went viral on Tuesday. According to reports, he was intoxicated when the incident occurred.
Many people called for Shukla's arrest as the video gained popularity.
"This incident has embarrassed the entire state of Madhya Pradesh. Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath tweeted on Tuesday that the guilty party should receive the harshest punishment possible and that atrocities against tribal [people] in the state should stop.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister, also expressed his outrage and threatened to be prosecuted under the strict National Security Act (NSA).
The accused, Pravesh Shukla, allegedly has connections to BJP lawmaker Kedarnath Shukla, according to claims made by Congress spokesperson Abbas Hafeez.
Additionally, Mr. Hafeez posted images of the two of them together.
However, Mr. Kedarnath Shukla denied the accusations and claimed to be unaware of the identity of the accused. "I take a lot of people with me when I go out in the district. I go to a lot of events. He declared, "He is not a BJP member.
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