OBC Man Made To Wash Brahmin's Feet, Drink Water To "Atone" For Insult

In a shocking incident of caste-based discrimination, a young man in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district was allegedly forced to wash the feet of a Brahmin man and drink the water as a punishment for "insulting" him. A now-viral video of the act has sparked outrage in the region. Both parties, however, have downplayed the issue and slammed attempts to "politicise" it.

A police case has been registered under several sections, including one relating to an act that prejudices harmony between different communities. This FIR is based on a complaint filed by a member of the Kushwaha community. 

Parshottam Kushwaha, from an Other Backward Classes (OBC) community, was made to wash the feet of Annu Pandey, a Brahmin, and drink the water in front of the villagers. He was also fined Rs 5,100 and made to apologise to the Brahmin community.

It started with a village-level dispute. Sataria village, where Parshottam Kushwaha and Annu Pandey live, has declared a liquor ban. Despite this, Annu Pandey allegedly continued to sell alcohol. When caught, the villagers punished him by making him publicly apologise and pay a fine of Rs 2,100, a resolution Pandey accepted.

But the matter took a different turn when Parshottam allegedly created and shared an AI-generated image of Annu wearing a garland of shoes. Though he deleted the post within minutes and apologised, some saw the act as an insult to the Brahmin community, adding a caste twist to a village dispute.

According to local sources, a group from the Brahmin community assembled and demanded that Parshottam "atone" for his act. Under pressure, the young man was made to perform the degrading ritual of washing Annu's feet, drinking that water, and apologising to the entire community. The disturbing visuals show Parshottam kneeling and washing Annu's feet.

After the video went viral, both men tried to defuse the outrage.

"I made a mistake, and I have apologised. Annu Pandey is my family's guru. Please don't make this political," Parshottam said in a video appeal, urging authorities to remove the viral footage from the Internet. Annu Pandey, too, called it a "mutual" matter that had been resolved. "Some people are politicising this. There's a guru-disciple relationship between us. I didn't humiliate him. It was voluntary."

Despite the attempts to normalise the event, the visuals speak of caste hierarchy, deeply ingrained in the social structures in rural India.