Man killed for having food with Dalits in Uttar Pradesh

According to police sources here, 65-year-old Paras Nath Patel and his members of his family were invited by the dalit family to attend the wedding ceremony of a girl at Kuruthuwa village in the district on Wednesday last. The “kurmi” community to which Paras Nath belonged had decided not to attend the ceremony and have food with the dalits as they considered them “untouchables”.

Paras Nath, however, defied his community and his entire family had food with the dalits at the feast, which enraged the “kurmi” community of his village, sources said.

Irked over Paras Nath’s defiance, the “kurmi” community held a “panchayat” at the village on Thursday to deliberate on the matter and take action against Paras. The members of the panchayat wanted to expel Paras Nath from the community for defying the diktat.

The son of Paras, who was also present at the panchayat, alleged that the community members used expletives against Paras following which he had heated exchange of words with them.

Some members of the panchayat allegedly strangled Paras with a towel killing him on the spot. A case of murder has been registered against seven people, sources said. The culprits had been absconding.

Barely a few days ago, members of the “brahmin” community had refused to have food with dalits at a religious feast at a village in UP’s Maharajganj district.