Torture Against SC/ST Communities: Voices That Refuse to Stay Silent

Torture in India is often imagined as rare, hidden, or exceptional. But for many Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) families in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, violence by authorities is not an exception — it is a lived reality.

This blog is based on survivor testimonies, field documentation, and human rights advocacy that reveal a disturbing pattern: police, government agencies, and forest authorities using intimidation, beatings, and humiliation as tools of control against the poorest citizens.

When the State Becomes a Source of Fear

For marginalized communities, approaching authorities should mean protection. Instead, many families describe fear when they see uniforms.

Survivors spoke about:

• custodial beatings inside police stations

• threats of false criminal cases

• caste slurs used as psychological torture

• forced signatures on documents they could not read

• violence during forest patrols

• assault when trying to escape bonded labour

• denial of medical treatment after abuse

One survivor said:

“We survive by staying silent. Silence is our protection.”

This silence is not consent — it is survival.

Ten Survivors, One Pattern

The testimonies of ten survivors reveal the same structure of abuse repeating across villages and settlements:

A labourer beaten for demanding wages.

A forest-dependent family attacked during patrol.

A woman threatened in front of her children.

A minor slapped to teach “obedience.”

A worker forced to sign papers under fear.

These stories are not isolated. They expose how torture becomes normalized when accountability disappears.

Healing Through Collective Voice

Something powerful happened during documentation.

When survivors sat together and shared their stories, many said it was the first time they felt believed. The peer space became a place of healing. Listening to one another restored dignity stolen by violence.

Documentation is not only about recording pain — it is about restoring voice.

Justice must include healing.

Advocacy and Public Accountability

On 10 July 2025, during a public dialogue at Banaras Hindu University on the status of SC/ST communities, a memorandum was submitted highlighting torture and institutional abuse in the presence of Hon’ble MP Tanuj Punia and former National SC Commission Chairperson P. L. Punia.

The message was clear:

Torture is not a rumor.

It is documented reality.

And silence is no longer acceptable.

Why This Matters

Torture is not only a legal violation — it is a moral failure of democracy.

It violates the Constitution.

It violates human dignity.

It violates the promise of equality.

When the poorest citizens fear the state, democracy weakens.

What Must Change

India must:

• explicitly criminalize torture

• protect SC/ST complainants

• ensure independent oversight of custody

• end violent forest enforcement

• fast-track cases of custodial abuse

• provide survivor rehabilitation

Justice delayed is violence extended.

A Final Word

The survivors in this report did not ask for sympathy.

They asked to be seen.

They asked to be heard.

They asked to live without fear.

A democratic nation cannot tolerate normalized torture.

A humane society must stand with its most vulnerable.

The voices of SC/ST survivors are no longer silent.

And neither should we be.