In yet another case of violence against Dalits, six members of a Dalit family were allegedly attacked and assaulted by a mob of around 20 people for visiting a temple in a village Gujarat’s Kutch district.
The incident occurred in the village of Ner on October 26 as per the local police, which have lodged two separate FIRs in connection with the incident. However, no arrests have been made so far.
According to the police, Govind Vaghela, a Dalit, and his family had visited the temple on October 20. This had apparently enraged the local caste Hindus, who first damaged the standing crops on Mr. Vaghela’s farm. When he and his family members protested, they were reportedly assaulted with pipes and sticks.
“Two FIRs were registered in this regard, one by Govind Vaghela and another by his father Jagabhai. The duo claimed that around 20 persons attacked them. We have formed eight teams to nab the culprits,”said a local police official Kishorsinh Zala.
According to Mr Zala. the district police have formed special teams to find the accused persons, who are local residents of the village.
The case has been registered invoking charges of attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery, assault, and under relevant sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the accused who have been named in the FIR.
This story first appeared on thehindu.com