A Dalit youth is allegedly being assaulted two days ago, video of the alleged assault went viral. Vadodara police in Gujarat have started an investigation. The complainant was attacked on December 11 by group of seven upper caste men who have not yet been identified, while he was with female friend. The attack was captured on camera.
The FIR was submitted to Taluka Police station in Vadodara district wednesday. According to complaint, 24-year-old Alpesh Parmar (Vankar) was assaulted on December 11 around 3:30 pm while conversing with female friend who belonged to an upper caste community along Narmada Canal on Bhayli-Sevasi Road. The seven individuals arrived at the scene and started beating Parmar with sticks and leather belts.
Vadodara Superintendent of Police, Rohan Anand said, “We have learnt that the complainant is in a relationship with a lady from the community of the accused, who are yet to be identified. We are in the process of identifying the accused and recording the statement of the woman. By this evening, we will have identified the accused.”
The FIR note says, “About seven accused, who are yet to be identified, interrupted the conversation that the complainant was having with his friend, and picked up an argument with the complainant on the pretext that he had made unpleasant comments on their social media accounts… Soon, the accused began thrashing the complainant, insulting and abusing him for his caste. The complainant has suffered injuries on his arms, legs, back as well as his head. The accused also threatened to kill the complainant if he approached the police.”
FIR also states that Parmar’s family and community members urged him to contact the police after video of the assault which was allegedly recorded by the accused themselves to “send out a message to others” went viral on social media. As a result, Parmar filed his complaint late on Wednesday.
The accused have been booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for unlawful assembly (143), rioting (147), every member of an unlawful assembly guilty of the prosecution of the common object (149), punishment for voluntarily causing hurt (323), criminal intimidation [506(2)], and uttering obscene words in a public place [294(B)] as well as sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Meanwhile, Vadgam Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani took to Twitter Thursday and recalled the Una flogging incident. Mevani said, “When the Una incident took place, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said, ‘Kill me if you want but do not harm my Dalit brothers. But, the administration has not been able to ensure that such incidents are not repeated again. The result is that a Dalit youth was almost lynched in public Vadodara yesterday.”