mumbai:
Four Dalit men were allegedly hanged upside down from a tree and beaten with sticks by six individuals on suspicion of stealing a goat and some pigeons from a village in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, police said on Sunday.
A video of the incident surfaced on social media, after which police arrested one person in connection with the attack on Saturday, while five others went into hiding, an Ahmednagar police official said.
A closure was observed in Haregaon village in Shrirampur taluka on Sunday in protest of the incident.
The Opposition Congress has described the incident as a “blemish” on humanity and the consequences of the “hate” spread by the BJP.
On August 25, a group of six people from the village allegedly went to the homes of four Dalit men, all in their 20s, and forced them to accompany them, the official said.
They were hung upside down from a tree and beaten with sticks because they were suspected of stealing a goat and some pigeons, he said.
The suspects have been identified as Yuvraj Galande, Manoj Bodake, Pappu Parkhe, Deepak Gaikwad, Durgesh Vaidya and Raju Borage, the official said.
One of the suspects allegedly made a video of the attack, which later appeared on social media, he said.
The injured men were later taken to a nearby hospital, the official said, adding that one of the victims, Shubham Magade, had lodged a complaint with the police.
A case under sections 307 (attempted murder), 364 (kidnapping) and other relevant provisions of India’s Penal Code and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been registered, the official said.
Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole said the incident was a blot on humanity and demanded that all suspects be immediately arrested and given strict punishment.
“Such incidents are a result of the hatred spread by the BJP for political gain,” he claimed.
Nationalist Congress party chief spokesman Mahesh Tapase accused the government of failing to protect the self-respect of Dalits.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published through a syndicated feed.)