In a horrific incident, a 40-year-old Dalit man was beaten to death for allegedly stealing a water pump in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district. 

The incident took place in Ghatoli area on Saturday, September 21 morning, when a 60-year-old man, his two sons, and some other unidentified people thrashed Dhulichand Meena of Mewakheda village, alleging that he stole a water pump from their fields, Station House Officer (SHO) said.

When Dhulichand was on his way to a nearby village, Purilal Tanwar, his sons, Devi Singh (23) and Mohan (20) and the other men confronted him, the SHO said.

After a heated argument between Dhulichand and the group of men over the stolen hand pump, the matter turned violent after which Dhulichand was beaten to death. 

Dhulichand’s father reached the spot and took his injured son home. Later, his condition deteriorated and he was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead, the SHO said.

He said the investigation revealed that Tanwar and his sons had complained about the theft to Dhulichand’s father, who reprimanded his son and asked Tanwar to lodge a police complaint against him. A case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been registered against Tanwar, his sons and seven unidentified men, the SHO said. 

Dhulichand’s body was handed over to his family on Saturday after the post-mortem. 

Incidents Targetting Dalits In Past

Early this month, a 20-year-old Dalit man was allegedly burnt alive over his relationship with a woman from another caste. This incident later led to his mother’s death.

In March, a 23-year-old Dalit man was mercilessly thrashed to death by some upper caste people for eating in front of them at a wedding reception in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district.

In another shocking incident in July, a 35-year-old Dalit man was hacked to death by the family of an upper-caste woman he married in Varmor village of Ahmedabad.

The Logical Indian Take

The Logical Indian strongly opposes the atrocities on Dalits and Dalits being soft targets of violence in society. Multiple instances have surfaced where the community has been denied access to public places, burnt, killed and beaten to death, yet the authorities remain mum.

Incidents such as these are the testament to the fact that the caste system exists and thrives in the society and the denial of its subsistence only helps the perpetrators, not the victims. As the saying goes- ‘the first step towards fixing a problem, is admitting that there is one’.

Also, Read TN: ‘This Is Our Cremation Ground’, Upper Caste Tell Dalits, Make Them Wait In Rain With Corpse