Chhattisgarh: Dalit man beaten to death on suspicion of stealing rice, three arrested
The police arrested three persons on charges of murder, but local activists demanded that a provision on mob lynching should also be invoked.
A 50-year-old Dalit man was beaten to death by a group of men on Sunday in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district on the suspicion of trying to steal a sack of rice, The Indian Express reported.
The police arrested three persons – Virendra Sidar, Ajay Pradhan, and Ashok Pradhan – in connection with the incident that took place at around 2 am in Dumarpali village, The Hindu reported. The man who was killed was identified as Panchram Sarthi alias Butu.
In his statement to the police, Sidar said that he was awoken at his home in the village by some noise and saw Sarthi trying to steal rice. Subsequently, he allegedly called Ajay Pradhan and Ashok Pradhan, who lived next door, and tied Sarthi to a tree.
“He [Sidar], along with his neighbours, tied him [Sarthi] with a plastic rope and thrashed him with sticks, which resulted in his death,” The Hindu quoted an unidentified police officer as saying.
The village sarpanch alerted the police about the incident in the morning, The Indian Express quoted unidentified police officers as saying. The police found Sarthi unconscious and still tied to a tree when they arrived at the site at 6 am.
Raigarh Superintendent of Police Divyang Patel said that Sidar, along with Ajay Pradhan and Ashok Pradhan, was arrested in the matter and added that a case of murder had been filed under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, The Hindu reported.
Following the incident, local activists claimed that it was a case of mob lynching. However, the police said that it did not meet the legal definition of mob lynching under Section 103(2) Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The section defines mob-lynching as an offence in which “a group of five or more persons acting in concert commits murder on the ground of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other similar ground..”
Degree Prasad Chouhan, a lawyer and social activist, told The Indian Express that it did not matter what the reason was for attacking Sarthi. “Can they take law in their hands?” he asked, adding that it was a case of mob lynching.
