Youth tied to tree, beaten to death over love affair

Vadodara: For not heeding to the warning he received from the father of his love interest, a youth living in Chokari village of Padra taluka had to pay a costly price with his life on Wednesday.
Twenty-year-old victim, Jayesh Rawal, who works as a casual labourer, was dragged from his house on Wednesday afternoon and lynched by four accused identified as Kiran Mali, Mohan Mali, Ramesh Mali and Kalidas Mali.
Rawal was in a relationship with Kalidas’s daughter Aarti. Kalidas had warned Rawal around two months ago of dire consequences if he continued meeting his daughter or even tried to speak to her. However, the girl’s mother spotted the lovebirds talking near Kalidas’s farm on Wednesday afternoon. Though Rawal ran back to his home, his fears of being attacked turned horrifyingly true soon after.
The four accused dragged the youth near their house and flogged him mercilessly with sticks before making him wear a saree and tying him to a tree. All four accused took turns to beat Rawal and even kicked him on his private parts, despite the youth’s constant pleading to let him free. The violence continued due to which the youth soon lost consciousness.
Sometime later, when Rawal’s cousin got to know about the incident they rushed to his help, seeing which the four accused fled the spot. Rawal was untied and an ambulance was called, while his cousin kept splashing water on his face. However, Rawal failed to respond and doctors at the government hospital in Vadu declared him dead on arrival.
Later that same night, mother of the deceased youth, Ramila, lodged a complaint of murder, abduction, wrongful confinement and criminal conspiracy against four accused at Vadu police station. On Thursday, the four accused were detained and kept in quarantine. Police said that they will be taken for Covid-19 test on Friday following which they will be formally arrested.
An unidentified person recorded the whole flogging incident on a mobile phone and circulated the video, which went viral on Thursday.
Police said that besides working as a casual labourer, Rawal also used to play ‘dhol’ during weddings in the village, while his father is a castor oil trader.