Bhadohi: On the orders of a local court, a case has been registered against two youths for ambushing and molesting Dalit women who went to defecate near a pond here during the night, police said on Monday.

The accused are absconding and efforts are on to trace them, they added.

According to the police, Raj Bahadur Gautam (60), a resident of Gyanpur police station area, had filed a petition in this regard in the court of Special Judge (SC/ST Act) Amit Verma on April 23 this year.

The plea mentioned a pond in front of his house where women and girls from his residence and many other nearby houses went to defecate.

It alleged that two men — Ramesh Bind and Shyamdhar Bind — in the cover of darkness, molested the women and committed obscene acts against them.

The petitioner alleged that on the evening of February 24, his wife had gone to the pond to defecate when the two accused repeated the same acts. When his wife protested, they hurled casteist abuses and drove her away. She then returned home and relayed the events to her husband.

Station House Officer, Gyanpur police station, Manoj Kumar said after listening to his wife, Raj Bahadur Gautam confronted the accused but they hurled abuses at him too, and thrashed him badly, requiring him to be taken to a hospital for treatment.

The petitioner also alleged that the police did not register his case, following which he filed a petition in the special court.

Special Judge (SC/ST Act) Amit Verma on November 8 ordered the registration of a case.

In compliance, a case was registered against Ramesh Bind and Shyamdhar Bind under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Sunday at Gyanpur police station, the police said.