Dalits allegedly thrashed by ‘upper-caste’ in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: A Dalit man and his mother were allegedly thrashed by a mob of 15 “upper-caste” men for skinning a dead cow near a crematorium at a village in Anand district of Gujarat, instead of the place where cattle are disposed of, police said on Tuesday.

Sojitra police in Anand district of Gujarat has booked five persons in the case of atrocity and assault of Dalits, most Dalit families in the community in Kasor village skin dead cattle for a living reports Indian Express.

The incident has taken place after a year when Dalit youths at Una were brutally beaten up, which had stirred a much political storm. A group of people belonging to the Kshatriya community (upper-caste), commonly known as Darbars, marched towards the Rohitvaas area of the village and allegedly attacked the house of the victim, manhandling his mother and him.

The incident took place on Saturday night but police started the probe on Sunday. The Anand police served notices to the accused, who have been identified by the victims, the police said.

Superintendent of Police, Anand, Saurabh Singh said, “We have issued a notice to the accused to appear before the police station for investigation, as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court. We have identified the accused based on the statement of the victim. The accused have been asked to appear on Wednesday as Tuesday being Independence Day and Janmashtami, the force is busy in bandobast. The accused are very much present in the village and we will question them on Wednesday. They will be arrested soon.”

“The victim said that the group would often indulge in altercations with the victim. However, a day before Saturday’s assault, they threatened him and asked him not to skin animals in the village as it emanates severe stench. According to the victim, since he did not want to indulge in a fight, he stopped the skinning and went home. But the mob attacked his house on Saturday,” an officer said.