The police in Haryana’s Palwal district have booked 31 people for allegedly attacking a Dalit family for not turning off the lights at 9 pm on April 5, as suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, no arrests have been made so far.

The accused, a member of the Gujjar community, allegedly entered a Dalit family’s house in Pingore village at around 9.30 pm on April 5 and attacked eight people.

Dhanpal, the complainant, alleged that the accused used casteist slurs and threatened them to keep their house lights switched off for the entire night. Dhanpal claimed that he had switched off the lights for nine minutes on April 5. His son, daughter and five other family members also sustained injuries along with him.

Dhanpal alleged that the accused who attacked his family were armed with sticks, iron rods and bricks.

Sadar Station House Officer (SHO) Jitendra Kumar said that the children of the two families clashed over switching off the lights, after which the families began to pelt stones at each other. They also damaged a vehicle.

The police officer said the accused were on a spree, and the sarpanch of the village was asked to call them before the police by 5 pm on Wednesday. It is unclear whether the sarpanch followed with the order.

The provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been invoked and a case has been registered on charges of causing hurt and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code.

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