On July 8, a 25-year-old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death in Varmor village of Ahmedabad district, Gujarat. Haresh Kumar Solanki was attacked by his upper-caste in-laws when he went to his wife Urmilaben’s house to persuade them to send her back.

Reports suggest that a team of ‘181 Abhayam’, a women’s helpline service which was present at the scene fled fearing for their own lives. Urmilaben is two-month pregnant and is reported to be missing.

Dalit Man Beaten To Death

Solanki and Urmilaben got married around six months back. However, in May, Urmilaben, who belongs to the upper-caste Darbar community, was brought back by her parents. Her relatives had initially said that Urmilaben would be sent back to Solanki within a few weeks. However, even after two months, Urmilaben wasn’t sent back.

Solanki then sought help from 181 Abhayam team to let Urmilaben return to him. He boarded the helpline vehicle for Varmor village. While Solanki remained inside the vehicle, the officials of 181 Abhayam team went to Urmilaben’s house and started counselling Urmila’s father Dashrathsinh.

However, when the family got to know that Solanki was in the vehicle, he was attacked by the family members. He sustained injuries on head and other parts of the body, Deputy Superintendent of Police (SC/ST Cell) PD Manvar said. The Abhayam vehicle was damaged in the ruckus. The officials, however, managed to escape.

According to Bhavika, the counsellor who travelled with Solanki, the counselling lasted for around 20 minutes. She said that the discussion with Dashrathsinh ended around 7 pm and the team started approaching the vehicle. However, at the same moment, Dashrathsinh accompanied by a few men arrived and attacked Solanki.

An FIR against eight persons including Urmilaben’s parents have been registered. They are booked under sections 302 (Punishment for murder), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 147 (Punishment for rioting) and under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Urmila and her whole family is said to be missing right now and according to the villagers, Urmila was forcefully taken away.

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