New Delhi: A Dalit youth was beaten to death in the Nalanda district of Bihar, reportedly for demanding payment for his labour on an affluent farmer’s field, the Telegraph reported on Tuesday. According to Jansatta, the incident occurred in Kundali village.
Upendra Ravidas, who was 25 years old, had been missing since Sunday evening. On Monday, local police fished his body out of a nearby stream with rope tied around his arms and legs. Bricks had allegedly been tied to his body to prevent it from floating back to the surface.
Around 15 days ago, Upendra and his brother-in-law, Sikandar Ravidas had reportedly spent a day sowing paddy in a farm in Bahadurpur, a village around 25 km away from the stream where the former’s body was discovered.
The farm belonged to one Dinesh Mahato, a well-to-do farmer in the village, who had agreed to pay the men 10 kg of rice each in return for their efforts. According to the police, however, when the two went to collect the rice on Sunday evening, they were allegedly abused by Mahato and his associates who then proceeded to chase them down with sticks.
Recounting the incident to reporters, Sikandar said that both of them had tried to flee but due to the injuries he sustained by getting hit, Upendra was unable to run. Sikandar was able to escape to the Chandi police station where he got the officers to come and help. Upendra, however, could not escape.
The police arrived on the scene late on Sunday evening. By that time, Upendra was missing and Mahto and his associates had fled.
Locals discovered Upendra’s body in the stream close to the village on Monday morning, after which the police pulled it out, Chandi station house officer (SHO) Rituraj Kumar told the Telegraph. He also noted that an FIR has been lodged and three people have been detained for questioning. Mahto, however, is still in hiding.