A 30-year-old man was allegedly beaten up by four men from a backwards community for dropping dishes at an eatery in Sabarmati area of Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
According to a complaint filed with the police, Pragnesh Parmar was hit by Mahesh Thakor, Jogi Thakor and two others when he went to Mahesh's eatery for dinner and accidentally dropped a dish, said Inspector RH Vala of Sabarmati police station, said a report by news agency PTI.
The matter intensified on November 4 after Dalit leader and Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani threatening a "Gujarat bandh" if the accused were not arrested within 24 hours.?
Parmar is currently hospitalised.
Vala said a case of attempt to murder has been lodged against Mahesh Thakor and three others and provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have been invoked.
Mahesh Thakor has been arrested while efforts were on to arrest the other three.
In yet another incident of Dalit atrocities, a police constable belonging to a backward caste was driven out of the temple because of his caste.
¡°Constable Jayesh Khara, 29, who serves Bhanwad police station in Jamjodhpur taluka, named Hansgiri Bapu, the priest of Gopnath Mahadev temple, head cook Babu Patel and his assistant Sanjay, in the complaint. Khara said he had gone to fetch tiffin from the temple kitchen for his colleague on Saturday night when Patel inquired about his caste,¡± said a report by The Times of India.
When Khara said he was a Dalit, Patel and Sanjay allegedly drove him out and asked him to wait outside the temple.?
¡°When I asked them, why did they discriminate between upper and lower castes and everyone was supposed to be equal inside the temple, Patel and Sanjay told me that it was the rule of the temple,¡± he stated in the complaint.
The priest angrily suggested that he will put up a board banning entry of Dalits outside the temple.