A pregnant Dalit woman and her family were attacked by an upper caste mob who barged into their home after they refused to dispose cow carcasses from fields in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, police said Saturday.
Six people were arrested “within a few hours” after the incident was reported from Mota Karja village in Amirgadh taluka.
Nileshbhai Dhunabhai Ranavasia in his FIR claimed that a group around 10 people from Darbar community attacked his family including his pregnant wife Sangeeta last night after the family refused to go to the fields of the assailants to remove carcass of cattle.
In his complaint, Ranavasia said:
They abused me and thrashed me before entering my house and beat my pregnant wife Sangita on the abdomen with sticks.
He said they also threatened to kill her if he did not go to the farm to dispose of the dead animals.
District Superintendent of Police Neeraj Kumar told IANS that Deputy Superintendent of Police, Deesa, immediately took over the investigation “and within a few hours found and nabbed all the persons named by the complainant”.
Those arrested were identified as Batwarsinh Chauhan, Maknusinh Chauhan, Yogisinh Chauhan, Babarsinh Chauhan, Dilgarsinh Chauhan and Narendrasinh Chauhan. Sections of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been invoked in the case.
As tension prevailed in the village, police tightened security and intensified patrolling, reported Banaskantha Superintendent of Police Neeraj Badgujar. He also said that the Dalit families in the village were provided protection and the police were doing their “best to maintain peace and harmony among various communities”.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)