New Delhi: A Dalit man, bound by ropes around his waist, is beaten mercilessly with rods while he cries out in pain, in a video clip allegedly from Gujarat's Rajkot. The man died after the savage beating on the orders of an auto-parts factory owner, according to a police complaint. His wife was allegedly beaten up too.
The man, identified as Mukesh Vaniya, winces and screams as he is flogged by two men in the disturbing footage tweeted this morning by Gujarat lawmaker Jignesh Mevani.
"Mr Mukesh Vaniya belonging to a scheduled caste was miserably thrashed and murdered by factory owners in Rajkot and his wife was brutally beaten up," he tweeted with the hashtag #GujaratIsNot Safe4Dalits.
Five people, including the factory owner, have been arrested on charges of murder and under the law on atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
"We have arrested five people, including the factory owner. I cannot reveal his name yet as it's not mentioned in the FIR (first information report). A murder case has been filed under the SC/ST Act and a deputy rank officer will probe the case," Rajkot senior police officer Shruti Mehta said.
On Sunday morning, Mukesh Vaniya and his wife, both rag-pickers, were using magnets to look for scrap when some factory workers confronted them, accusing them of theft.
The woman escaped to get help from their village nearby. By the time she returned with some people, Vaniya was prone on the ground. He was pronounced dead in the hospital.
Jignesh Mevani's post describes the incident as "worse than the 2016 Una attack", in which four Dalits were stripped and thrashed by cow vigilantes while they were skinning a cow that had been electrocuted.
"This is a far more gruesome incident than Una. In Una, the victims were beaten up and humiliated. Whereas, here a man lost his life amidst caste violence... The government of Gujarat has still not learned from its past mistakes," Mr Mevani wrote on Facebook.
The Una incident provoked protests by the community and led to the prominence of Dalit leaders like Jignesh Mevani, who contested and won in the Gujarat election last year.
The man, identified as Mukesh Vaniya, winces and screams as he is flogged by two men in the disturbing footage tweeted this morning by Gujarat lawmaker Jignesh Mevani.
"Mr Mukesh Vaniya belonging to a scheduled caste was miserably thrashed and murdered by factory owners in Rajkot and his wife was brutally beaten up," he tweeted with the hashtag #GujaratIsNot Safe4Dalits.
"We have arrested five people, including the factory owner. I cannot reveal his name yet as it's not mentioned in the FIR (first information report). A murder case has been filed under the SC/ST Act and a deputy rank officer will probe the case," Rajkot senior police officer Shruti Mehta said.
Advertisement
The woman escaped to get help from their village nearby. By the time she returned with some people, Vaniya was prone on the ground. He was pronounced dead in the hospital.
Advertisement
"This is a far more gruesome incident than Una. In Una, the victims were beaten up and humiliated. Whereas, here a man lost his life amidst caste violence... The government of Gujarat has still not learned from its past mistakes," Mr Mevani wrote on Facebook.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Frustrated With Inaction Over Flooding, Gujarat Man Drinks Phenyl Watch: Zomato Agent Delivers Food Amid Heavy Rains, Company Responds Gujarat Man Beaten, Driven Around Tied To Car For Stealing, Cops File Case US Millionaire, Who Died By Suicide, Owed $34 Million With $8,000 In Bank Manipur Chief Minister Slams Tejashwi Yadav Over "Racist" Jab At Himanta Sarma Elderly Man Slapped, Abused On Train Over Suspicion Of Carrying Beef 8 Killed After Bus Carrying 47 Overturns In US State Of Mississippi: Report Trump "Disrespected Sacred Ground' At US Military Cemetery: Kamala Harris Top 10 US Universities Based On Forbes Rankings 2024 Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.