A 21-year-old Dalit man was allegedly killed for watching a garba event organised by upper castes in Bhadraniya on Sunday.
The police have arrested eight persons and registered a case of murder under the atrocity Act.
Jayesh Solanki and his cousin Prakash had gone to watch garba near a temple. “A group of people came to us and asked what we were doing. When we said we were watching garba, they thrashed Jayesh and banged his head against a wall,” said Mr. Prakash, who lodged the complaint.
“He died due to severe injuries because eight people beat him,” said Mr. Prakash.
“We have lodged a case of murder and arrested all the eight accused named in the FIR,” a police officer from Anand district said.
The murder came in the wake of another caste-related assault on a Dalit man for sporting a moustache in a village near Gandhinagar.
Piyush Parmar (24) and his cousin were allegedly assaulted by people from upper castes who did not like Mr. Parmar sporting a moustache.
The police have registered a case under the atrocity Act and arrested three persons from Kshatriya community. “They asked us how we can sport a moustache, and then they started assaulting us,” said the complaint filed by Mr. Parmar.