Banda: A 33-year-old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death by three men in Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh after he refused to massage their feet while they were consuming alcohol together, police said on Sunday, June 14.
Police said they arrested all three accused, who allegedly dumped the victim’s body on a road to make the incident appear as an accident.
Lalitpur Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kalu Singh said the Kotwali police received information on Sunday morning that a man was lying unconscious on a road behind Varni Jain College and near Gurunanak Dharamshala.
“The man was identified as Rajkumar alias Chhannu (33), who belonged to a Scheduled Caste community. He was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead,” Singh said.
Deceased went to a liquor party on Saturday night
Police collected evidence from the scene and found that Rajkumar had attended a liquor party at the residence of Samyak Rajnayak alias Rahi Jain (38) in Civil Lines on Saturday night. Gajendra Narwaria alias Gajendra Singh Rajput (37) and Gaurav Raikwar (25) were also present at the party, police said.
According to Singh, the investigation revealed that the three accused, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, asked Rajkumar to massage their feet.
“When he refused, the three men assaulted him with a belt and an iron rod, resulting in his death on the spot. To make the incident appear as a road accident, they later threw his body on the road,” the ASP said.
Police registered a case of murder and relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act based on the complaint of the victim’s mother.
The three accused confessed to the crime during questioning, Singh said.
He added that the body has been sent for a post-mortem examination and further legal action is underway.
