A group of self-styled cow vigilantes thrashed two Dalits in a village in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region for allegedly refusing to dispose the carcass of a calf.
Police said seven people roughed up Nagji Rathod and Mayabhai Rathod of Mandal village when they said they had stopped doing this work in response to a state-wide call by Dalit activists not to clear dead animals.
Nagji and Mayabhai were taken to a private hospital in Mahuva town.
Acting swiftly following a complaint, police on Monday arrested village sarpanch Atabhai Ahir, who led the vigilantes. Two of the four others in the attack are yet to be identified.
They have all been charged under the Indian Penal Code and The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on a complaint filed by Rathod, 45.
Nagjia’s elder brother, Soma Rathod, accuses the villagers of harassing them regularly.
Soma Rathod owns a unit in Mandal village where bones of dead animals are crushed and sent to Godhra for further processing.
Sunday’s was the second incident of attack on the Rathod family.
In May, Soma Rathod’s son Premji Rathod was among seven Dalits who were roughed up by some 20 vigilantes, again in Rajula.
In this case, the attackers filmed the entire drama.
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