Bihar: Dalit man beaten to death for demanding wages; body found in river

Patna: Beaten, tied to bricks and thrown into a rivulet, a Dalit youngster was murdered on Sunday in Bihar for allegedly demanding the wage promised to him for a day’s labor on a farm. The hate crime took place in a village located in the home district of chief minister Nitish Kumar.

The victim, Upendra Ravidas, 25, of Kundali village in Patna district had reportedly been missing since Sunday evening. The police fished his body out of a stream on Monday morning about 25 km away from Bahadurpur.

According to the Telegraph India, the prime accused Dinesh Mahto of Bahadurpur village in Nalanda is in hiding.

Upendra and his brother-in-law Sikandar Ravidas had spent a day sowing paddy at Mahto’s farm around 15 days ago. Sikandar said that they were asked by Mahto to come after a few days for the promised payment of 10 kg rice.

The two went to Bahadurpur on Sunday evening and asked Mahto to settle their wages. Mahto and his associates began abusing them and allegedly attacked them with sticks when they objected, the police said. Sikandar reportedly managed to escape; however, unfortunately, Upendra could not.

“I ran to save my life. Upendra was hit badly and could not run,” Sikandar told reporters. He added that he would see Dinesh and his men kicking and hitting him with sticks on seeing which he fled to the local Chandi police station for help.

When the police arrived at Bahadurpur late in the evening, Upendra was missing while Mahto and his associates had fled, according to the police. Subsequently, the search for Upendra yielded no results. Chandi station house officer, Rituraj Kumar told the Telegraph that locals later spotted his body in a rivulet just outside Bahadurpur.

“His hands and legs were tied with ropes. Bricks had been tied to the body so that it would stay at the bottom of the rivulet, which is in spate these days. But somehow it floated to the surface,” officer Kumar stated.

He added that the body has been sent for post-mortem and an FIR has been registered. Three people have reportedly been detained for questioning.