Cop Claims Gujarat Dalit Killed for ‘Harassment’, Not Owning Horse

Rathod’s father alleged that his son was killed by upper castes for owning a horse. Cops claim he ‘harassed women’.

The Gujarat Police on Saturday, 31 March, claimed that the Dalit youth Pradeep Rathod who was killed in Bhavnagar district late Thursday for allegedly keeping a horse, used to harass local girls and the villagers were angry with his activities.

District Superintendent of Police Pravin Mal told reporters that while speaking to villagers, there were complaints about the 21-year-old Rathod. He theorised that Rathod might have been killed for that reason, rather than because he was a Dalit and the higher castes objected to him using and keeping a horse.

Three people were arrested in connection with the case on Saturday, 31 March.

“The preliminary investigations reveal that the boy was not killed just for owning the horse as has been alleged in the FIR lodged. Instead, we have come across a lot of complaints about objectionable behaviour of the boy from various quarters and perhaps some persons may have killed him for that,” said Pravin Mal, adding: “We are trying to ascertain the true reason and nab the culprits.”