After moustache & Garba, Dalit youth in Gujarat killed for 'owning a horse'

In yet another attack on Dalits in Gujarat, a 21-year-old Dalit youth was allegedly killed in Bhavnagar district by upper caste men for owning and riding a horse.

Identified as Pradip Rathod, the youth was killed on Friday evening at Timbi village of Umrala taluka in Bhavnagar district.

"Three suspects have been detained for questioning in the case," A M Saiyad, Deputy Superintendent of Police of the Bhavnagar SC/ST Cell told PTI.

According to reports, all the three detained are from the Kshatriya community.

"We have detained three persons for questioning. We have also acquired some CCTV footage showing Pradip on his horse before his dead body was found. We are probing this case from different angles, including an old rivalry or a love affair" said Saiyad.

In his complaint to Umrala police, Pradip's father, Kalubhai Rathod, claimed that some upper caste Rajput men held a grudge against his son after he bought a horse recently.

He claimed that these men had threatened to kill Pradip if he didn't sell off the horse.

His complaint stated that Pradip was killed using sharp weapons by some Rajput men when he was returning home from his farm on his horse on Friday evening.

One Natubha Darbar of Timbi village and some other unidentified persons have been shown as accused in the FIR, police said.

After taking over the probe from Umrala police, Saiyad said that three persons had been detained.

Last year, a series of attacks were reported against Dalit men in Gujarat for reasons such as sporting a moustache and attending Garba.

In one of the incidents, a 21-year-old Dalit man was beaten to death by a group of men belonging to the upper caste Patel community for attending a garba event in Gujarat's Anand district.

Prio to this incident, two Dalit men of a village near Gandhinagar were thrashed by members of the Rajput community for “sporting a moustache” in separate incidents, on September 25 and 29.

The incident had led to protests in several parts of Gujarat. Many youths in the state had even changed thier WhatsApp display picture to that of a logo of a moustache and crown and ‘Mr. Dalit’ written above it, in a mark of protest.