CPI(M) seeks action against those responsible for ‘assault’ on Dalits at rooster fighting arena

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) Andhra Pradesh State committee strongly condemned the alleged assault on Dalits at a rooster fighting arena in Uppuluru village of Kankipadu mandal in Krishna district and demanded strict action against those responsible for the act.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, CPI(M) State secretary V. Srinivasa Rao alleged that Dalit labourers were stripped, tied with ropes and subjected to inhuman torture by the organisers of an illegal rooster fighting event. The party demanded strict action not only against those who conducted the unlawful rooster fights, but also against officials who allegedly allowed the conduct of such events. The party further called upon the government to provide protection to the victims and ensure adequate compensation for the physical and mental trauma suffered by them.

CPI(M) State secretariat member Y. Venkateswara Rao, Krishna district secretary Y. Narasimha Rao and State committee members A. Malyadri and M. Haribabu visited the village and met the victims to express solidarity.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao said the incident occurred on January 15 during Sankranti festivities, when organisers allegedly brought 11 Dalit workers from Thotlavalluru for labour at the rooster fighting arena. Following a dispute over accounts, the workers were falsely accused of theft and were brutally assaulted, he alleged, describing the act of filming the torture as evidence of the perpetrators’ cruelty.

The CPI(M) leader accused the government of failing to implement High Court orders banning rooster fights, alleging that such events were being conducted openly across the State with political patronage. He claimed that even public representatives and Ministers were present at some venues encouraging the illegal activity.

Demanding criminal cases against all organisers and public representatives involved and urging people to strongly protest against such atrocities, he said that the party reiterated that lawlessness and caste-based violence would not be tolerated.