Dalit woman assaulted by TDP leaders

Vishakapatnam, Dec 21: A Dalit woman in Visakhapatnam's Pendurthi was dragged and assaulted allegedly by the members of ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) over a land dispute.

The woman had objected to the digging work on a piece of land when she was dragged and her clothes were torn off by the culprits, which allegedly involved TDP leaders.

The incident took place on Tuesday, and the woman registered a complaint with the Pendurthi village on Wednesday.

"When the woman objected to people digging the land, they pulled her and assaulted her. She then registered a complaint. We registered a case under Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Section 354 of the IPC. The investigation is underway," ACP L. Arjun told media.

The ACP, however, denied the involvement of TDP leaders in the assault.

The other claimant to the disputed piece of land is a bottling company in Andhra Pradesh.

The Dalit community, on the other hand, has claimed that the land was allotted to them by the revenue authorities under NTR Vidyonnathi scheme, police said.