A dalit man who was beaten up by a group of seven upper caste men last week died Thursday night at a hospital in Bhavnagar. The relatives claimed he was killed for being a witness to the killing of another dalit person in his neighbouring village back in 2019.
According to Botad district police, on September 6, at Bagad village in Ranpur taluka, Dhiru Khachar and his sons- Haresh, Kishore and Raghu- and three unidentified people attacked Rajesh Makwana with sharp weapons. He was rushed to Bhavnagar hospital where he died last night. Police have converted the case from attempt to murder to murder along with atrocity charges against seven persons.
Botad district superintendent of police Kishor Baloliya told DH, "The complainant had stated in the FIR that he was attacked for being a panch witness to the murder of another person in the neighbouring village. We are investigating the angle to find out the truth."
In 2019, the deputy sarpanch of Jalia village Manjibhai Solanki was killed by a group of nine persons. Police said that Jalia is barely 10 km from Bagad. Botad SP told reporters that three of the accused have been arrested so far in the case.
The relatives have alleged that Rajesh Makwana had sought police protection fearing threat to his life. His family members alleged that despite repeated attempts police didn't heed to his requests.
Congress MLA and dalit leader Jignesh Mevani on X said that "Rajesh Makwana was the only witness to the murder of Manji Solanki. He had also sought police protection but denied. This is the ninth such incident where people from dalit community sought protection but neither government nor the police listened to the. As a result, they all were killed."
Published 15 September 2023, 09:27 IST