Beni, May 6

Two people have been arrested by Myagdi Police on the charge of assaulting a school principal. They were allegedly motivated by caste-based discrimination.

Resh Bahadur Bishwakarma, 42, head teacher at the Janajyoti Basic School based in Raghuganga Rural Municipality was allegedly manhandled by two locals Bal Bahadur Roka and Jitendra Jugjali for belonging to the Dalit community, said police.

The two have also been charged with verbally abusing and thrashing the school principal, leaving him injured.

The accused were arrested yesterday and the District Court granted permission to the police to keep them for five more days in detention for investigation, said Inspector Dhruba Prasad Sharma, information officer at Myagdi District Police Office.

They were arrested acting upon an FIR filed against them by the victim.

Now, they face a lawsuit for committing caste-based discrimination.

It may be noted that the school management committee on April 18 arranged a meeting with locals in the committee Chair Parbati Purja’s residence.

Roka and Jugjali attacked Bishwakarma for entering Purja’s home as he was a Dalit.

They forcibly took him out from the meeting hall with verbal abuses and dumped him at the house yard.

The victim suffered a problem in his leg. He visited Beni Hospital the following day and the hospital referred him to the Pokhara-based Manipal Teaching Hospital on April 20.

Though the teacher had proceeded to file a complaint against his attackers on April 20 with the help of his son, the complaint got registered only on April 28.

Meanwhile, the Joint Political Dalit Struggle Committee Myagdi has condemned the incident as it manifests caste-based discrimination.

The prevailing act against the Caste-based Discrimination and Untouchability provisions a oneyear jail sentence and a fine of up to Rs 100,000.