Tensions remain high in Gujarat’s Surat after an 18-year-old Muslim youth was beaten to death in Boridra village over an alleged relationship with a tribal girl.
Police rounded up four men accused of the attack on Friday, 26 July. The four men have been identified as Vijay Vasava, Akshay Vasava, Ajay Vasava and Dinesh Vasava from Boridra village.
Police, speaking to The Indian Express, said that the two were allegedly in a relationship, but the girl’s parents had opposed it and asked her to end things.
They added that she had stopped meeting the victim in the past month and that this may have driven him to go to Boridra village to meet her.
They added that members of the girl’s family found the victim in Boridra village and attacked him, thrashing him with iron rods.
The Indian Express report adds that the boy’s older brother received a call from a resident of a village near Boridra village, who told him that people were beating his brother up.
When the victim’s brother arrived at Boridra with his father, they found him lying in a pool of blood, severely injured.
The victim’s brother took him to Jayaben Modi hospital in nearby Bharuch. While they were on their way to the hospital, the boy allegedly told his brother that the men from Boridra had beaten him up.
The victim was shifted to Surat’s Mahavir hospital where he succumbed to his injuries later.
The Indian Express quoted sources as stating that the boy had multiple fractures on his head, both his hands and legs as well as several fractured ribs.
Police have registered an FIR against 10 people, including those, for murder, among other charges.
Heavy police detail has been deployed in both Boridra and Dharoli villages to avoid violence.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)