Four Dalit youths, including two minors, were allegedly hung upside down from a tree and beaten up by a group of six people in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district over suspicion of stealing a goat and pigeons. At least two people have been arrested in the incident so far.
The incident took place on August 25 in Haregaon village of Shrirampur taluka, according to police. A video of the incident surfaced on social media – allegedly shot by one of the accused – following which the police arrested one person on Saturday in connection with the attack, while five others are absconding.
The Dalit men were hung upside down and thrashed with sticks over suspicion of theft.
The accused have been identified as Yuvraj Galande, Manoj Bodake, Pappu Parkhe, Deepak Gaikwad, Durgesh Vaidya and Raju Borage, the police said.
According to police, two of the accused men were from upper-caste backgrounds and two from Scheduled Caste (SC). A case has been booked against them under IPC section 307 (attempt to murder), 364 (kidnapping), as well as under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The injured Dalit men were taken to a nearby hospital, police told PTI, adding that one of the victims Shubham Magade lodged a complaint with the police.
In a similar incident in Badnapur tehsil of Jalna district in Maharashtra, a 25-year-old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death on suspicion of stealing a two-wheeler. Four persons were arrested on Sunday, police said.
The accused were identified as Akash Jadhav, Kailash Jadhav, Kundlik Tirkhe, and Tulsiram Gaikwad, all residents of Daregaon in Jalna tehsil.
In another such incident in Madhya Pradesh, a Dalit youth was beaten to death by a group of people over an old enmity in Sagar district. Police said they have arrested eight persons in this connection.
Nitin Ahirwar aka Lalu, about 18 to 20 years old, was a resident of Barodia Nonagir village under Khurai Dehat (rural) police station limits. He was brutally thrashed by the accused mob of nine who were subsequently booked.
The incident sparked a political tussle with the opposition Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BJP) slamming the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in Madhya Pradesh.
