• Source:JND
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In yet another caste-based crime and intent to humiliate an individual from a lower caste, a man from the OBC community was made to wash the Brahmin man’s feet and drink the water as punishment for insulting the man from the upper caste.

The incident occurred in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district, where Parshottam Kushwaha was made to clean Annu Pandey’s feet for insulting the latter. The video of the incident has now gone viral and ignited outrage in the region.

However, both parties have downplayed the matter, saying that attempts were being made to ‘politicise’ the event.

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The police have registered a case under several sections, including one related to attempts to prejudice harmony between different communities. FIR is based on a complaint received by the Kushwaha community.

The incident occurred in Sataria village, where Kushwaha was forced to wash Pandey's feet and drink the water, while also being fined Rs 5,100 and made to apologise to the Brahmin community. The incident stemmed from a village dispute over a liquor ban, which Pandey allegedly defied, and continued to sell alcohol, prompting the villagers to punish him initially with a fine of 2100 and public apology.

The situation escalated into a disturbing display of caste-based violence after Kushwaha shared an AI-generated image of Pandey wearing a shoe garland. Although Kushwaha deleted the image within a few minutes, some saw the act as an insult to the Brahmin community, leading to outrage.

After the video of Kushwaha being forced to wash Pandey’s feet and drink that water went viral, both men tried to defuse the outrage.

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"I made a mistake, and I have apologised. Annu Pandey is my family's guru. Please don't make this political," Parshottam said in a video appeal, urging authorities to remove the viral footage from the Internet. Annu Pandey, too, called it a "mutual" matter that had been resolved. "Some people are politicising this. There's a guru-disciple relationship between us. I didn't humiliate him. It was voluntary."