A mob of 200-300 upper caste Hindu men attacked the house of a Dalit couple on Monday, May 21, after the husband criticised the government in a Facebook post, for not allowing the local temple to be rented for Dalit weddings in Mahuvad village in Padra district, Gujarat.

The incident came in light, when Tarulataben Mackwana, a 46-year-old Dalit woman, filed an FIR at Vadu police station against 11 people and about 200-300 unnamed people for beating her husband, pelting stones and attacking her house.

Men armed with weapons arrived at her house and hurled abuses at the couple, alleged Tarulataben in her complaint. She was slapped and her husband Pravin was dragged out and beaten-up claimed Tarulataben in her complaint.

The couple started receiving death threats soon after the Facebook post. A few men had threatened her husband with severe consequences if he did not delete his post, stated the complaint.

Pravin post read, “Your democratic BJP government doesn’t let the premise of Ranchodji temple in Mahuvad village of Padra taluka of Vadodara be rented out to the Dalit community for wedding ceremonies.”

Based on the complaint, the police booked all the accused under IPC section 143, 147, 149, 452, 336, 504, 506 (2) and under relevant sections of the SC/ST Prevention of the Atrocities Act, The Indian Express reported.

After the complaint was filed, a  patrolling team was deployed in the village to avoid any further clash or violence. However, no arrests have been made so far.

“We are recording the statements of the villagers and the eyewitnesses in the case. We are yet to arrest anybody named in the FIR,” Ravindra Patel, the investigating officer in the case, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Vadodara Rural) told the media.

Hours after Tarulataben filed a complaint, Secretary-General of Rajput Shakti Yuva Sangathan’s Padra unit Kiran Padhiyar filed a complaint against Parvin over the post. In his complaint, he alleged that Pravin had tried to create enmity between two communities.

Padhiyar, in his complaint, claimed that the Rajput community was abused in the comment section of Pravin’s post.

Following the complaint by Padhiyar, the police booked Pravin Mackwana under IPC sections 153 1 (a) and (b), 294 and 406.

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