Four persons belonging to the upper caste community were arrested for allegedly chopping off the thumb of a 30-year-old Dalit man at Kakoshi village in Gujarat’s Patan district.
According to the police, the incident happened on June 4. The Dalit victim – Kirti Parmar – and his brother Dhiraj Parmar were reportedly attacked by seven people.
Police said that the clash began after Kirti’s eight-year-old son was abused with casteist remarks for picking up a ball when the upper caste men were playing cricket at a school playground.
On seeing his nephew being bad-mouthed, Dhiraj objected. A verbal spat occurred between the two parties. The fight was resolved after nearby residents intervened.
According to a PTI report, later in the evening, a group of seven men spotted the brothers at a tea stall and attacked them with sticks and sharp objects finally chopping off Kirti’s thumb and leaving him unconscious.
Dhiraj rushed his brother to the hospital where Kirti’s condition is said to be stable.
An FIR has been registered under sections 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons), 506 (criminal intimidation) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act), a police official told PTI.
Counter FIR by accused
On Thursday, a counter FIR was lodged by one of the accused against the Dalit brothers.
In his complaint, Siddhrajsinh Rajput alleged that Kirit injured himself and lost his thumb while attacking them with a sword he found in a nearby shop.
Rajput claims that after the initial fight was resolved by the nearby residents, Kirti refused to back off and attacked them, injuring Rajput near his elbow.
The FIR was registered against the brothers under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to causing grievous hurt and criminal intimidation among others, the official told PTI.
Kannada actor condemns attack
Prominent Kannada actor and Dalit activist Chetan Kumar Ahimsa took to Twitter condemning the attack. “2 days ago in Gujarat, a Dalit man faced casteist abuses & had his #thumb chopped off after his nephew picked up a cricket ball. Here’s a drawing that juxtaposes today’s atrocity w/ the mythological exploitation faced by our adivasi prodigy Ekalavya at hands of Brahminical forces,” the actor tweeted.
On May 30, a 21-year-old Dalit man was allegedly beaten by six persons belonging to the Rajput community for wearing stylish attire and sunglasses at Mota village in Gujarat’s Surat district.
The victim – Jigar – was standing outside a temple when he was approached by his attackers who questioned him about his attire.
Questioning Jigar’s ‘courage’ to dress up well, the men attacked him saying he was “flying too high these days”.
Based on Jigar’s complaint, FIR was lodged against the attackers.
(With inputs from news agencies)
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