Ranchi police investigate assault allegation and dispute over access to well

Police in Ranchi, India, said they registered a case against five people after a Dalit woman alleged assault and caste-based abuse. The family named in her complaint also filed a countercomplaint.

PTI reported on October 13 that Manju Choudhary accused neighbours of preventing her from using a well since July 23 and assaulting and insulting her on October 10. She filed her complaint on the day of the alleged attack.

Jagannathpur police station chief Nitin Kumar Singh said the case was registered under provisions of the 1989 Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act and India’s criminal code. Four members of one family were among the five people named.

On Monday, the family also accused Choudhary of assault. Police found that the well was on the family’s residential premises. Its location does not conclude the separate inquiry into alleged violence and humiliation. Singh said the investigation was continuing.