Bengaluru
In a horrendous case, a Dalit man was brutally beaten up, his sister stripped and parents kicked around in Vijayapura for allegedly touching the vehicle of people belonging to the Lingayat and Kuruba communities.
Incidentally, while CM BS Yediyurappa belongs to the Lingayat community, the leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah is from the Kuruba community.
The video of the 28-year-old man being beaten by an angry mob went viral on social media on Monday. In the purported video, the Dalit man is seen lying on the road naked, writhing in pain even as he is being beaten up with sticks. The crowd is seen baying for his blood.
The angry mob did not spare his 26-year-old sister, whose clothes were torn by the mob and she was also allegedly sexually harassed in the middle of the road. The man’s parents tried to intervene, but they were kicked by the angry mob.
People in the crowd, however, alleged the young man had sexually harassed a woman on the road. The Talikoti police lodged an FIR against 13 people under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty of a woman) of the IPC among other and relevant sections of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities (Amendment) Act 2015.
The other accused are on the run.
“We have offered protection for the victim’s family and we expect to arrest the accused persons soon,” the Talikoti police said.
