A one day training was organised by Part-III with youth in Patna, to create awareness about the use of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. About 40-45 students from various faculties of Patna University, undergraduate and postgraduate, participated in the training.
The training saw discussions on the basics of criminal procedure right from the stage of filing an FIR to the stage of obtaining a judgment from the Sessions Court. The session also elaborated on the options available to a victim/complainant when faced with challenges in interacting with the criminal procedure. Most of the participants said that they raise complaints verbally. When they write to the authorities regarding any incident, they often do not have evidence to submit with the written complaint. They do not have photocopies of the complaint, as the authorities refuse to provide proof of receipt of the complaint/letter. In this training, part-III added to the importance of creating written evidence/record through documentation, letter writing and proof of registered post to the trainees while initiating a complaint against atrocities.
The participants also shared several incidents of caste atrocities, which were experienced by them personally or by members of their community. These included negative marking targeted at students, land disputes, incidents of assault due to use of abusive language in conversation and incidents that took place in the hostel. The participants, while sharing their experiences, also said that when they try to register a case after being tortured, the police suppresses it and pressurizes the accused to get a counter case registered against the students, especially by involving the POCSO Act, and as a result they are forced to compromise keeping their careers in mind. Commenting on this issue, Vipul said that there is no provision for compromise in this law, however, social conditions, lack of information and lack of a strong public organization have made it a norm
The session concluded with a discussion on the specific provisions of the PoA law, and the potential ways in which the students would like to remain connected with the issues being discussed therein.