Dalit youth thrashed for moustache stickers on bike

VADODARA: An 18-year-old Dalit youth was allegedly thrashed by six persons from ‘Darbar’ community at Poicha village in Savli taluka on Rakshabandhan for having a picture of moustaches and a sticker of ‘Banna’ on his bike. ‘Banna’ is a colloquial term used for men from ‘Darbar’ community.
Victim Ronak Dabhi’s father Mukesh Dabhi gave a police complaint at Bhadarva police station on Friday on insistence of his community’s elders.

Police said that when Ronak was at a temple near his house on the evening of Rakshabandhan last Sunday, he was thrashed by the six accused — Manoj Rathod, Mahesh Rathod, Rajendrasinh Rathod, Mahendrasinh Rathod, Parth Rathod and Dilipsinh Rathod. In his complaint, Mukesh, who is a worker at an engineering company in Manjusar GIDC, told the police that on hearing commotion he rushed to the temple.

Mukesh also told the police that besides thrashing Ronak, the accused were asking him was he a Darbar and how dare he wrote Banna on his bike. He alleged that the accused also abused his son on the basis of their caste. Cops said that even when Mukesh and his younger brother Sanjay intervened, the accused continued beating the teenager and dragged him towards his house.

Meanwhile, Sanjay called the control room of Vadodara rural police and the cops reached there. The accused then left from there and Mukesh went to Bhadarva police station on the same day to lodge his complaint. The cops called the accused, too, to the police station and both the parties reached a settlement following which Mukesh withdrew his complaint.

However, on Friday, Mukesh gave another complaint and a case of rioting, assault and violation of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

“We went to arrest the accused twice on Saturday, but they have all fled away and their family members are also claiming that they do not know where they are,” deputy superintendent of police (SC/ST Cell) B D Chaudhary said.

Local sources said that in the past too people from upper caste have stopped marriage procession of people from lower castes.