The district police on Thursday arrested seven persons in connection with the alleged social boycott of 22 families of the Dalit community after a boy from an upper caste community married a Dalit girl at Gummalapadu village in Ravikamatham mandal of Visakhapatnam district.
The arrests were made based on the complaint lodged by the victims on September 22. The police have registered an FIR and booked cases against 32 persons, including the father and the brother of the boy, for their alleged involvement in the case. However, the two were among the arrested seven persons.
According to Inspector of Kothakota police station Lakshmana Murthy, the situation is now under control. The police have formed peace committees with elderly people from both the communities. As a precautionary measure, the police posted pickets in the village.
Peace rally
Meanwhile, members of Visakha Zilla Dalit Sanghala Ikya Vedika along with the locals conducted a peace rally in the village on Thursday.
Vedika convenor B. Venkat Rao said that this should be treated as an atrocity case against Dalits and the culprits should be brought to book so that such incidents would not recur. Earlier, vedika members gave a representation to District Collector V. Vinay Chand seeking action against the culprits, he said.
It may be recalled that after the boy and the girl got married, the 22 families of the Dalit community were allegedly not being provided milk, vegetables and other essential commodities.