A 16-year-old boy belonging to a lower caste and his parents were allegedly beaten by villagers when he visited a shop to buy milk at Hoskote on Friday evening.
The police have charged 13 people under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and also for unlawful assembly, assault, and criminal intimidation. “We have arrested two people, and the other accused are on the run. Efforts are on to track them down,” a police officer said.
According to the police, the accused Narayanaswamy and others who were at the shop held Pawan by his collar and pushed him onto the ground. “In his statement, the boy said they asked him how he could dare come to the shop given his caste,” said the police.
Humiliated, Pawan returned home crying and narrated the incident to his father Rajappa, a farmer, and his mother Sujatha.
When the parents went to enquire, the accused attacked them with clubs and slashed Sujatha’s hand with a chopper when she tried to resist.
The couple went to the hospital to get their injuries treated before approaching the police.
