Two weeks after dalit youth hanged upside down from tree in Punjab, SC commission directs police to nab culprits

A complaint registered by Gurwail Singh , 35, resident of Bhaini Liddhar village falling under Majitha police station, alleged that he was thrashed and hanged upside down with a tree by some persons of Kotla Sulatan Singh village, near Majitha.

By Yudhvir Rana / The Times Of India

AMRITSAR: Taking cognizance of the alleged inaction against the accused who had not only tortured a dalit youth but also hanged him upside down with a tree, fifteen days ago, the Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes has directed the police to arrest the culprits and submit its report by April 6.

A team of the Commission led by senior vice chairman Deepak Kumar Verka visited Amritsar on Tuesday and met the victim Gurwail Singh.

Though the incident had happened on March 15, but strangely, police had registered the FIR against the accused on March 24, nine days after the incident against the alleged culprits Ladi, Palwinder Singh, and Joban Singh, all residents of Kotla Sultan Singh under sections 341, 323 and34 IPC at police station Majitha .
Chairman of Valmikan Sudhar Sabha Baba Pankaj Nath Shergill who claims to have taken up the issue of alleged torture with a dalit youth demanded immediate arrest of the accused and compensation for Gurwail Singh and his family.

“This incident has exposed the prevalent but ugly reality of the caste divide in the society,” said Pankaj.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Gurwail was attempting to steal electricity wires from the village, however, the same couldn’t be confirmed by police.

The commission has directed the police to also register the case against the accused under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, arrest the culprits and submit a report in the Commission’s office by April 6, informed Deepak.
“We had arrived here on the complaint of Gurvail Singh’s mother and found him under depression after the despicable incident happened with him,” said the senior vice chairman Deepak Kumar Verka.

While quoting the medical report, he said there was a blood clot in his brain which could be due to alleged torture.

Senior superintendent of police, Amritsar, rural, Deepak Hilori said police had begun the investigations but the alleged accused were still at large.

This article first appeared on timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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