Dalits thrashed again for refusing to lift carcass

Days after reports of a dalit boy being punished near Ahmedabad for saying his community had decided against removing carcass of dead animals, another incident of self-styled cow vigilantes thrashing two more Dalits for refusing to dispose of the carcass of a calf on Sunday, came to light.

The latest incident took place in Mandal village of Rajula taluka in Saurashtra region.
“A couple of days ago, a calf was found dead on the village roadside. Sarpanch Atabhai Ahir approached Nagji and asked him to dispose of the dead animal and he refused saying that the community had decided against disposing dead animals after the attacks on the community,” Soma Rathod, elder brother of Nagji, said. “This enraged the sarpanch and his men, who roughed up Nagji and Mayabhai Rathod.”
Both, Nagji and Mayabhai were later admitted to a private hospital in nearby Mahuva town.

“We have lodged a complaint against seven accused and have handed over the investigation to Rajula’s deputy superintendent of police of SC/ST Cell,” V M Zala, police inspector, Dungar police station, said. “We have also arrested the sarpanch and three others under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and other sections of IPC,” the officer said.

Second attack
This is the second attack on Nagji’s family. On May 22 last, a group of about 19 cow vigilantes had roughed up seven dalit boys, including Soma’s son, at Rajula for skinning dead animals at a place officially allotted to them by local authorities.

The cow vigilantes had also videographed the incident and it went viral on social media after a nationwide uproar over July 11 public flogging of four dalit youths at Una.

Though the victims gave a representation to the local administration and police on May 30 to take action against the culprits, no arrests were made.

The aggrieved even took out a 70-km bike rally from Rajula to Amreli town on July 7. It is only after the video went viral and innumerable protest rallies shook the state after Una incident, did the police take action in late July. Soma complained that his family and community were constantly harassed and economically isolated by the villagers.