The Dalit man was allegedly chased and beaten to death in Pimple Saudagar suburb of Pune, reportedly over an inter-caste relationship with a woman belonging to an “upper caste”. (Representational)

Family of the 20-year-old Dalit youth murdered allegedly over his relationship with a girl from an upper caste said it was a “planned killing” due to “caste hatred”.

The deceased, identified as Viraj Vilas Jagtap, was a second-year student of arts at a local college. He resided with his family in an Ambedkarite locality near Buddha Vihar in Pimple Saudagar, which is in the jurisdiction of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).

His father passed away when he was about nine months’ old. His mother, Reshma Jagtap, is a PCMC worker. “He has no siblings. After losing her husband, Reshma took huge efforts to raise Viraj… But now he has been murdered. His mother is shattered. She is not in a position to speak. She is finding it difficult to believe that her son is no more…,” said Rajendra Jagtap, Viraj’s uncle.

“We were aware that he liked a girl from his school days, when they studied together. The girl is from the Kate family, who are upper caste…We know the girl’s family and they know us too as we all have been residing in the same area for many years… If the family had any problems due to Viraj, they should have approached us and discussed the matter…But they killed him brutally because of their casteist mindset,” said Rajendra.

According to Viraj’s family, he left home on his motorcycle around 9.30 pm on June 7 after receiving a call on his cell phone. After sometime, a family member got a phone call that Viraj was involved in a fight at some distance from his residence. When the family members rushed to the spot, they found him lying in a pool of blood. He was rushed to a hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries on June 8.

Jitesh Jagtap, another uncle of Viraj, lodged an FIR in this case at Sangvi police station.

Police have booked six persons, including Jagdish Kate, father of the girl, on charges of murder. Police also invoked sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the accused.

According to the FIR, the accused allegedly rammed a tempo in Viraj’s motorcycle, due to which he fell down and started running. They then chased him and one of them allegedly hit him on his head with a metal rod and stones. Four accused allegedly held his hands and legs while Jagdish Kate hurled casteist slurs at him and spat on him for being in a relationship with his daughter, the FIR states.

“The way he was murdered shows that the assailants had planned to kill Viraj due to caste hatred,” said Viraj’s uncle Rajendra.

Meanwhile, family members of the girl have told the police that the deceased youth was allegedly stalking and harassing her and that on Sunday night, they had a fight with him over the “trouble he caused to the girl”. The girl’s family also told the police that they had warned Viraj and spoken to his family in the past.

However, police said the girl’s family had never filed any complaint against Viraj, adding that they would also speak to the girl, who is two years elder to Viraj. Police sources said the girl is currently not a student at any college.

Viraj’s relative and neighbour Pranav Gaikwad said, “It was shocking for us to find that Viraj was murdered… He was a hardworking man. Besides studies, he had been running a transport business since the last couple of years to help his family financially. We never saw him fight with anyone.”

Assistant Commissioner of Police Shridhar Jadhav, who is the investigating officer in the case, said, “Accused persons are arrested and one of them is a juvenile, who has been detained. Those arrested have been remanded in police custody for seven days by a court for further investigation.”

Meanwhile, several social activists and Dalit groups condemned the murder and visited Viraj’s family. Dr Sanjay Dabhade of Jatianta Sangharsha Samiti demanded immediate appointment of a state-level vigilance and monitoring committee, headed by the chief minister, as per the SC/ST Act, in view of the rising incidents of Dalit atrocities in the state.