Dalit Man Committing Suicide After He Was Beaten For Sitting on Chair in Ramleela is Misleading

A claim about a 48-year-old Dalit man named Ramesh from Kasganj committing suicide after being publicly humiliated and beaten by the police for sitting on a chair during a Ramleela program is making rounds on X.

Akhilesh Yadav wrote, “The news of a Dalit committing suicide in UP’s Kasganj after he was humiliated and beaten by the police for sitting on a chair near the stage while watching Ramleela is extremely sad and socially worrisome. The hegemonic thinking that is being promoted during the BJP government which is celebrating the so-called Amrit Kaal of Independence is the result of which the audacity to treat PDA in such a disrespectful manner is being shown. The physical humiliation of the PDA community is actually part of a larger psychological conspiracy to mentally weaken the PDA people. It has become a habit of the UP BJP government to cover up such incidents. Highly condemnable! There should be justice!”

The Dalit Voice wrote, “In UP’s Kasganj, a Dalit committed suicide by hanging himself. He took this step because he was hurt by the beatings and public humiliation by the police. He had gone to see Ramleela in the village. There he sat on a chair.”

The Cancer Doctor wrote, “Instead of #BrahminGenes this should be the talk of the day. Two thousand years and still we are living in a society filled with Casteist and regressive ideologies.”

Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair retweeted a post from Parth MN, which stated, “A Dalit man in UP hanged himself after being beaten and humiliated for sitting on a chair at a Ramlila event. The police officers were the ones who kicked, punched, and humiliated him.”

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Fact Check

In our fact-check report, we discovered a news segment about the incident on the YouTube channel of UP Tak. The video is titled, “Kasganj Dalit Death News: रामलीला में दलित शख्स कुर्सी पर बैठा तो पिटा और फिर मौत, लेकिन असल कहानी?“

In the video, between the time frame of 1:15 to 1:36, Ramesh is shown sitting on the stage, after which the police arrives and removes him. However, it does not show him being seated on a chair or being beaten and humiliated by the police. In the video, it is clearly visible that he was only removed from the stage.

Further, from 5:06 to 6:14 minutes, villagers stated that Ramesh, in an intoxicated state, climbed onto the stage and created a ruckus. After that, the police removed him, and his family members came and took him away. The villagers also denied the claims that he was beaten.

According to the Amar Ujala report, the Ramleela organizers said that Ramesh had been attending the program in a drunken state for the last 2-3 days. On Sunday night, he was also inebriated and sat in front of the stage. On the orders of the committee members, he was removed from there. There was no incident of him being assaulted.

The Additional Superintendent of Police, Kasganj, Rajesh Bharti, also released a statement in which he said that Ramesh, in an intoxicated state, sat on the stage. He was removed at the request of the organizers and the audience. After that, he left the venue.

Conclusion: The claim that a 48-year-old Dalit man named Ramesh from Kasganj committed suicide after being beaten by the police for sitting on a chair at a Ramleela program is misleading. The organizers of the program had complained to the police that Ramesh was attending the event in a drunken state and causing a disturbance. As a result, he was removed from the stage. There is no incidence of the police assaulting him.

Claim	A 48-year-old Dalit man in Kasganj committed suicide after getting beaten by the police for sitting on a chair in Ramleela program.
Claimed by	Akhilesh Yadav, The Dalit Voice, Mohammed Zubair, The Cancer Doctor and others.
Fact Check	The claim that Ramesh, a 48-year-old Dalit man from Kasganj, committed suicide after police beat him at a Ramlila program is misleading. He was removed for causing a disturbance while intoxicated, but there is no incidence of police assault.

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