Mumbai Court Jails Man for 6 Months Over 2016 Casteist Abuse in Chembur

A special court under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has convicted a 32-year-old man and sentenced him to six months of rigorous imprisonment for hurling casteist slurs at an advocate and making derogatory remarks against Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in Chembur.

Special judge YP Manathkar also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict, Shakil Shaikh, after holding that the prosecution proved the allegations with sufficient evidence.

According to the prosecution, the incident occurred on October 13, 2016, at around 9 pm at RNA Colony, Vashinaka, in Chembur. Advocate Vinod Satpute had parked his car near a building and was walking home when Shaikh confronted him, hurled casteist abuses at him, and made derogatory statements regarding Dr Ambedkar.

The following day, Satpute lodged a formal police complaint regarding the altercation at the RCF police station.

During the trial, the court relied on Satpute's caste certificate and verification records from the Pathardi sub-divisional office, accepting the prosecution's case that Satpute belonged to a Scheduled Caste and Shaikh did not.

The court noted that Satpute and Shaikh were former neighbours and that Shaikh was aware of Satpute's caste background, as Satpute's family routinely participated in Ambedkar Jayanti, Mahaparinirvan Din, and Buddha Jayanti events.

Special judge Manathkar held that the prosecution established that the accused used insulting language against the informant on the basis of his caste and made derogatory remarks against Dr Ambedkar at the specified date and time.