President Ram Nath Kovind took serious note of a Dalit man who was beaten and his head tonsured at Seethanagaram police station in East Godavari district.

Responding to the letter written by the victim, Vada Prasad, Ram Nath Kovind directed Janardhan Babu, assistant secretary (administration), the government of Andhra Pradesh, to take over the case. In the letter, Ram Nath Kovind advised Prasad to directly meet Janardhan Babu. Prasad is likely to present videos and audio recordings before Janardhan Babu.

The President’s response comes in the wake of Prasad’s letter to him. In the letter, Prasad stated that the sub-inspector had beaten him up severely with a belt and kicked him. The SI later called a barber to tonsure his head and remove his mustache forcibly.

Prasad had narrated the agony he underwent. In the letter, Prasad stated that his only fault was he stopped the movement of sand trucks passing through the lane of his residence because of a death in the area. He had asked to truck to wait till the dead body was moved for its last rites. Immediately, YSR Congress leaders entered into an altercation. The following day, the sub-inspector took him to the police station.

Prasad’s head was tonsured by YSRCP leaders in East Godavari District’s Seethanagaram even as the police personnel remained silent spectators. His only mistake was to question the illegal sand mining in the region. A sub-inspector and a constable have been suspended and the police have also registered a case against Prasad for stopping the truck of a local YSRCP leader.