3. Punishments for offences of atrocities.

3. Punishments for offences of atrocities.
(1) Whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or a
Scheduled Tribe-
(i) forces a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled
Tribe to drink or eat any inedible or obnoxious substance;
(ii) acts with intent to cause injury, insult or annoyance to
any member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe by
dumping excreta, waste matter, carcasses or any other
obnoxious substance in his promises or neighbourhood;
(iii) forcibly removes clothes from the person of a member
of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe or parades him
naked or with painted face or body or commits any similar
act which is derogatory to human dignity;
(iv) wrongfully occupies or cultivates any land owned by,
or allotted to, or notified by any competent authority to be
allotted to, a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled
Tribe or gets the land allotted to him transferred;
(v) wrongfully dispossesses a member of a Scheduled Caste
or a Scheduled Tribe from his land or premises or interferes
with the enjoyment of his rights over any land, premises or
water;
(vi) compels or entices a member of a Scheduled Caste or a
Scheduled Tribe to do 'beggar' or other similar forms of
3
forced or bonded labor other than any compulsory service
for public purposes imposed by Government;
(vii) forces or intimidates a member of a Scheduled Caste
or a Scheduled Tribe not to vote or to vote to a particular
candidate or to vote in a manner other than that provided by
law;
(viii) institutes false, malicious or vexatious suit or criminal
or other legal proceedings against a member of a Scheduled
Caste or a Scheduled Tribe;
(ix) gives, any false or frivolous information to any public
servant and thereby causes such public servant to use his
lawful power to the injury or annoyance of a member of a
Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe;
(x) intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to
humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled
Tribe in any place within public view;
(xi) assaults or uses force to any woman belonging to a
Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe with intent to
dishonour or outrage her modesty;
(xii) being in a position to dominate the will of a woman
belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe and
uses that position to exploit her sexually to which she
would not have otherwise agreed;
(xiii) corrupts or fouls the water of any spring, reservoir or
any other source ordinarily used by members of the
4
Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes so as to render it
less fit for the purpose for which it is ordinarily used;
(xiv) denies a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled
Tribe any customary right of passage to a place of public
resort or obstructs such member so as to prevent hint from
using or having access to a place of public resort to which
other members of public or any section thereof have a right
to use or access to;
(xv) forces or causes a member of a Scheduled Caste or a
Scheduled Tribe to leave his house, village or other place of
residence, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term
which shall not be less than six months but which may
extend to five years and with fine.
(2) Whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or a
Scheduled Tribe-
(i) gives or fabricates false evidence intending thereby to
cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby cause,
any member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe to
be convicted of an offence which is capital by the law for
the time being in force shall be punished with imprisonment
for life and with fine; and if an innocent member of a
Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe be convicted and
executed in consequence of such false or fabricated
evidence, the person who gives or fabricates such false
evidence, shall be punished with death;
(ii) gives or fabricates false evidence intending thereby to
cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby cause,
5
any member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe to
be convicted of an offence which is not capital but
punishable with imprisonment for a term of seven years or
upwards, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term
which shall not be less than six months but which may
extend to seven years or upwards and with fine;
(iii) commits mischief by fire or any explosive substance
intending to cause or knowing it to be likely that he will
thereby cause damage to any property belonging to a
member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe, shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be
less than six months but which may extend to seven years
and with fine;
(iv) commits mischief by fire or any explosive substance
intending to cause or knowing it to be likely that he will
thereby cause destruction of any building which is
ordinarily used as a place of worship or as a place for
human dwelling or as a place for custody of the property by
a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe, shall
be punishable with imprisonment for life and with fine;
(v) commits any offence under the Indian Penal Code (45 of
1860) punishable with imprisonment for a term of ten years
or more against a person or property on the ground that
such person is a member of a Scheduled Caste or a
Scheduled Tribe or such property belongs to such member,
shall be punishable with imprisonment for life and with
fine;
6
(vi) knowingly or having reason to believe that an offence
has been committed under this Chapter, causes any
evidence of the commission of that offence to disappear
with the intention of screening the offender from legal
punishment, or with that intention gives any information
respecting the offence which he knows or believes to be
false, shall be punishable with the punishment provided for
that offence; or
(vii) being a public servant, commits any offence under this
section, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term
which shall not be less than one year but which may extend
to the punishment provided for that offence.