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Lucknow: Police arrested a man who allegedly threw a girl into a pile of glowing embers after he caught her trespassing, an attack authorities said may have been motivated by caste.
The six-year-old girl, considered a Dalit, is recuperating at a state-run hospital in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, where the attack occurred, said Dr Ramesh Kumar, a doctor attending on her.
The alleged attacker, Madan Singh, 22, is from a higher caste.
Singh discovered the girl relieving herself on Tuesday in a field he owned and demanded she immediately leave his property.
Villagers effect rescue
"When she did not respond, he simply lifted her and threw her into a pile of embers," said Govind Agarwal, a local police official . "The girl's cries drew the attention of villagers, who rushed to the scene and pulled her out of the fire."
Singh was arrested yesterday and charged with attempted murder, said police official R.K. Chaturvedi. Police are investigating whether Singh attacked her because of her caste, he said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati herself herself is a Dalit and heads a party that aims to empower the community - once known as "untouchables" - but crimes against them remain common across her state.
A complex hereditary system divides Hindus into castes, and those on the lower rungs of the social ladder still face intense discrimination - even though the system was made illegal nearly six decades ago.
In much of rural India, people of lower castes are barred from upper-caste drinking wells and kept from visiting temples and attending village schools. Violations are often met with violence.
Hindus make up about 84 per cent of the country's 1.1 billion people. Muslims, account for 13 per cent of the population while Christians make up 2.4 per cent.
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