Himachal, Class 6 dalit boy dies by suicide .

[kakatiya]

According to the details of the case shared with The Wire by Kuldip Dhiman, chairman of the HPSCC, the victim was a Class 6 student from the Koli Dalit community in Limbda village of Rohru subdivision, Shimla.

 

On September 16, the boy had gone to purchase grocery items from a shop run by Pushpa Devi, who belongs to the upper-caste Rajput community.

 

Since no one was present at the shop counter, the boy stepped inside the adjoining house in search of someone who could assist him.

 

This simple act allegedly triggered Pushpa Devi, who, along with others, reprimanded the child, accusing him of “polluting” her house.

 

Pushpa Devi then locked up the boy in a cowshed near her house and threatened that he would not be freed till his parents brought a goat as sacrifice to “purify” her home.

 

Dhiman further told The Wire that the child somehow managed to escape after breaking an iron mesh in the cowshed and ran to his mother.

 

By the time child’s mother went to summon her relatives for help, the boy allegedly consumed a poisonous substance and died by suicide, Dhiman added.

 

“He was scared and worried how his poor parents would arrange a goat. There was no other reason for him to take his life. He was a sensitive child,” the boy’s mother the