§ MR. CAINE (Cornwall, Camborne)To ask the Secretary of State for India if his attention has been called to a recent case of assault tried at Karagpore, in which an official of the Bengal Nagpur Railway beat a Hindu clerk with his own slippers for having come into his presence with the suppers on his feet, the magistrate dismissing the case on the ground that it was more a lesson in politeness than an assault; is he aware that beating with a man's own slippers is considered by the Hindu communities to be the greatest insult that can be offered to then, especially when, as in the present case, the person assaulted is a Brahmin; and will he make some inquiry with a view to the removal of the repeated assaults of this character which are brought into the Indian Courts.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingI have no official information on the subject, but I understand from the newspapers that the occurrence referred to has formed the subject of an inquiry in court. I see no necessity for interfering in the matter, which is entirely within the competence of the local authorities. I am also aware that the attention of the Government of India has been specially directed to the recurrence of assaults of this kind.