Dalit man lynched in Navratri, 8 Patel youths arrested
On Saturday in Anand a 21-year-old Dalit man was beaten to death allegedly by men belonging to the upper-caste Patel community, for attending a garba event. Police said all 8 accused in the case have been arrested.
As per police, Jayesh Solanki and cousin Prakash Solanki, resident of Vankarvas area belonging to Dalit community in Bhadraniya village, had gone to watch the Garba near the local temple when he was allegedly stopped by Sanjay Patel of the same village. Sanjay alias Bhimo allegedly made damaging statements about his caste and abused him. As the situation went violent, Sanjay with 4 -5 friends reportedly beat him up.An officer of Bhadaran police station told media that the complaint in the case said that the Patel youths told the Dalits that they “do not have any right to watch garba”.
The incident is said to have taken place around 4 am. Jayesh, whose head was reportedly banged against a wall, suffered multiple injuries and fell unconscious. He was rushed to a private hospital, where he was declared brought dead. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Petlad, J N Desai, who is investigating the case, said “all eight accused have been arrested and further investigation is underway”.
The accused have been booked under IPC Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 302 (murder), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
