Dalit boy beaten up in Gujarat, two accused arrested

A 15-year-old Dalit boy was allegedly beaten up late on Thursday evening by two men in Bhavda village of Daskroi taluka in Ahmedabad district ostensibly because his father refused to dispose off cattle carcasses in the village, police said on Saturday.

Two persons were arrested after the boy's father, Dinesh Parmar, lodged an FIR against them. Kanbha police station officer Govindbhai Parmar told IANS that a case has been registered under the Prevention of Atrocities (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Act, besides other provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

Complainant Dinesh Parmar told the police that his son Harsh, a standard 10 student, was sitting with a friend in their colony Vankarvas when the two accused -- Sahil Thakore and Sarvarkhan Pathan -- from the same village went there.

They started abusing Harsh for his father had refused to remove the carcasses in response to a call by Dalit organisations protesting the July 11 flogging of four youths in Una in Saurashtra.

Dalits in many villages in Gujarat have stopped cleaning up cattle carcasses after the Una incident as part of a pledge to do so. "Removing carcasses was our traditional work but after the Una incident, I took a pledge to give it up. I now depend solely on the daily wages I earn for a living," said Dinesh Parmar.

PSO Govindbhai Parmar said the two accused persons had an argument with Harsh and his friend, following which they thrashed him. "It was a minor scuffle, but we still took Harsh to the hospital for a first-aid check," he said.

The incident left Harsh traumatised and he was sent to his aunt's house in Vastral area in Ahmedabad. "My son was traumatised by the incident and he was not ready to stay in the village. So I had to send him to my sister's place," said Dinesh Parmar.

--IANS

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