A 45-year-old Dalit woman died on Monday, a day after she was allegedly thrashed by two men angered by her refusal to convince her son to withdraw an old case registered against them under the Atrocities Act in Gujarat's Bhavnagar, an officer said.
Gitaben Maru was allegedly brutally thrashed with steel pipes by the two along with two accomplices near her home last evening. She died of her injuries on this morning, said Deputy Superintendent of Police RR Singhal.
The accused had asked Ms Maru to convince her son to withdraw the case registered against them under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and arrive at a compromise but she refused, he told reporters.
"We had taken down Ms Maru's complaint on Sunday night before she died and registered an FIR against Shailesh Koli, his friend Rohal Koli, and their two unidentified aides for the attack. We have formed three teams to arrest them," Mr Singhal said.
A case has been registered on the charges of murder, assault and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, he said.
Angered by Ms Maru's death, her family and local Dalit leaders gathered outside Sir Takhtasinhji General Hospital and refused to claim her body until all four accused are arrested.
As per the FIR, the four confronted Ms Maru near her house last evening and asked her to convince her son Gautam to withdraw the case registered three years ago based on his complaint.
When she turned down the offer of compromise, the four allegedly started beating her with steel pipes they had brought. They also damaged the CCTV cameras of a nearby shop and scared away onlookers, the FIR stated.
The four also threatened Ms Maru's husband and daughter, who rushed to save her and forced them to flee. The accused threatened to break her son's legs if he did not agree to reach a compromise.
Before leaving, the accused asked the injured woman to vacate her house and to move with her family.
The family called an ambulance and rushed her to the hospital, where doctors informed the police that she had suffered four fractures on her left arm and left leg and sustained injuries to her back and waist, the FIR added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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