(Trigger Warning: Description of physical violence. Reader discretion advised.)
The dead body of a 33-year-old Dalit man was found in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri district on Friday, 2 September. The deceased, Manoj Kumar, who was missing for two days, had been shot in the head and his face was crushed.
A few hours before his body was recovered, Kumar's wife had filed a complaint with the police, saying that he had borrowed Rs 1 lakh from Mangal Singh, an upper caste resident of Bajera village. Monu, a family member of Singh, had allegedly asked Kumar to return a total of Rs 11 lakh, including Rs 10 lakh as interest. She also said that they pressurised him to part with his agricultural land.
Kumar's wife further added that Monu along with a few of his associates on Thursday, 1 September, took him from their house after which he did not return.
On the basis of her complaint, the police on Friday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against four accused under Sections 384 (extortion) and 364 (kidnapping and abduction) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
A senior police official said that a murder section will also be added to the FIR, reported Times of India.
'Upper Caste Men Want To Grab Land, Life in Danger': Kumar's Brother
Kumar's brother Satish alleged that one of his other brothers was similarly murdered in 2015, the report added.
"Upper caste men from the village want to grab our land. The life of my entire family is in danger. We have to leave the village," he added.
The family also staged a protest with Kumar's body on Saturday, demanding the arrest of the accused. However, after assurance from the police, they cremated the body.
(With inputs from Times of India.)
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