A nine-year-old Dalit boy was severely beaten for allegedly entering into the kitchen of the so-called upper-caste family in Barahatal village council here in Surkhet district on Wednesday.

Bhim Bahadur, son of Jayasara, had entered into the kitchen of neighbouring Thakuri family following the instruction of the neighbor Batu Shahi’s son Chakra Bahadur Shahi to fetch some utensils.

Here is an account of Jayasara: “It was last Wednesday when I had gone to fetch fodder for my cattle. Our neighbor Batu Shahi’s son Chakra Bahadur Shahi asked my son [Bhim Bahadur] to fetch some goods from their kitchen. When Batu Shahi saw this, she got furious and started abusing my son verbally. Shahi’s son Bharat started thrashing my boy severely with a stick. My boy has sustained black and blue marks over all over his body. When I returned home that night, he was crying. He couldn’t sleep the whole night. Next day, I took him to regional hospital in Kalagaun. I didn’t go to report it to the police as I was busy with his treatment until Thursday. It was not good to make him walk in the heat.”

Jayasara filed a complaint at District Police Office on Friday. Police have filed a case as per the Caste Discrimination and Untouchability Act (Offence and Punishment) 2011.

“My differently-abled husband is abroad to earn living for the family. We are subjected to humiliation everyday here in village for being poor and of inferior caste,” Jayasara lamented.