An 18-year-old Dalit man from Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district was beaten to death, allegedly by men who had been mounting pressure on him to convince his sister to withdraw a sexual harassment case she filed in 2019, police said. The incident sparked a bitter political slugfest, with the Congress pointing to an “atmosphere of fear”, and the BJP accusing it of “politicising the matter”.
According to police, the accused beat the 18-year-old to death with sticks and then damaged portions of his family’s house. The incident took place on Thursday.
Sagar Additional Superintendent of Police Lokesh Kumar said an FIR was registered under section 302 (murder) of the IPC. “A search for the accused is underway. A few of the accused have been taken into custody and further action is being taken,” he said.
Six people have been arrested so far, while several others are absconding.
According to police, the victim’s sister had in 2019 filed a sexual harassment case against some of the accused, who turned up at the victim’s house on Thursday and urged her and her mother to withdraw the case.
When they did not relent, the accused left the house and then found the 18-year-old near a bus stand. They allegedly confronted him and began assaulting him with sticks, police said.
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