Two booked under Atrocities Act for casteist voice messages in WhatsApp group

Two women from Kutch district have been booked under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for allegedly circulating casteist and abusive voice messages in a WhatsApp group, insulting members of the Valmiki community.

As per the FIR registered at Ranip Police Station, the incident took place on October 12, when Jayshree Haji Pavaiya and Nisha Haji Pavaiya, both residents of Vagad village in Kutch (Bhuj), allegedly sent offensive voice messages in a WhatsApp group named ‘Kutch Vagad Ji Moj’.

The complainant, Vinod Ramchandra Parmar (40), a resident of Ranip in Ahmedabad and a member of the Valmiki Pavaiya community, stated that he and his spiritual teacher were part of the group, which includes several members of the Pavaiya community across Gujarat.

In his complaint, Vinod alleged that Jayshree Haji sent a voice recording containing remarks mocking and humiliating members of the Valmiki community, including references to ‘cleaning gutters’ and other caste-based slurs. The message was reportedly heard by multiple members of the group.

Following this, Nisha Haji allegedly shared another voice message, making further derogatory and caste-insensitive comments, which the complainant said caused deep humiliation within the community.

Vinod, who has been associated with his guru Ramila De Pavaiya for 24 years, stated that both the accused were formerly disciples of the same guru but had left the ashram five years ago to join another spiritual group in Kutch. He added that the offensive messages were a continuation of past animosity.

The complainant submitted a pen drive containing the recorded voice messages as evidence, along with screenshots of the chat group, to the investigating officer.

Police have registered an offence under Section of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Ranip police have started an investigation in the matter. Officials said further forensic analysis of the audio clips and mobile data will be conducted to verify the source and authenticity of the messages.