SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) act 1989: tool for social justice or weapon of vengeance
Indian society is a highly caste ridden society. The stratification of the society here is rigid and hereditary in character. Caste system orders the different castes into a hierarchy that is 'inflicted by birth, sanctified by religion and glorified by tradition', and because this hierarchy is an institutionalized part of Indian society. Some groups often referred to as untouchables or Dalits, their preferred name, lie at the very bottom of the theoretical social hierarchy and have long suffered from social stigma.