The Andhra Pradesh Police have arrested six persons, including three minors, for allegedly urinating on an Adivasi man in the Prakasam district, The Hindu reported on Wednesday.

The incident reportedly took place on June 19 following a clash over the Adivasi man’s relationship with a minor girl. The main accused, Mannam Ramanjeneyulu, and eight others allegedly beat up the Adivasi man – Mota Naveen – and urinated on him after the argument.

Superintendent of Police Malika Garg said that Ramanjeneyulu and Naveen were earlier friends and had been involved together in several property-related offences. However, they later got into disputes over sharing stolen items, she said.

The friendship between the two was said to have been further strained because of Naveen’s relationship with a girl who was related to Ramanjaneyulu’s friend. The superintendent of police said that Naveen had eloped with the girl, after which a case was filed against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, according to PTI.

However, Naveen continued his relationship with the girl even after the case was filed, which further angered Ramanjaneyulu and his friends.

The police said that after some days, Ramanjaneyulu called up Naveen on the pretext of patching up the differences between them and invited him for a party. The main accused man and eight of his friends then took Naveen and his brother Raja to a remote place, where they had drinks together.

The accused men, in an inebriated state, allegedly thrashed Naveen with sticks and stones, and urinated on his face.

The next day, Raja filed a police complaint but did not inform about the urination incident, The Hindu reported. However, the police found videos of the incident during the investigation, after which the clips went viral on social media.

A case has been registered under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The police are searching for Ramanjaneyulu and two other accused persons – Chapala Prabhu and Ekambar Narendra.

The arrested adult accused persons have been identified as Rayapati Abhilash, A Jayashankar and Shadiq. The three minors have been sent to an observation home.

The case came to light two weeks after a man named Pravesh Shukla was booked in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district for allegedly urinating on an Adivasi man named Dashmat Rawat. Shukla was arrested on July 4 and booked under the Prevention of Atrocities Act, as well as under provisions of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to obscene acts and intentional insults to provoke breach of peace.