(Representative image)

CHHATARPUR (MP): An upper caste man allegedly forced a six-year-old Dalit girl to lift her excreta with hands outside her school at Gudhora under Lavkushgagar tehsil here, the police said.

The incident took place last evening when the girl, after taking permission from her teacher, went to answer nature's call in an open area near the government primary school at Gudhora, about 60 km away from the district headquarters, Lavkushnagar police station in-charge Z Y Khan said.

When the accused, Pappu Singh, saw her defecating in the open, he lost his temper and forced her to lift her excreta with her hands, he said.

"The girl later narrated the incident to her parents, following which they, along with other members of the Dalit community, reached the police station to register a complaint against Singh," the official said.

A case was registered against Singh on charges of unlawful compulsory labour, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace and relevant section of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, Khan said.

Singh went absconding after the incident and a manhunt was launched to nab him, the police official said.

