Dalit man beaten to death in Rajkot; Gujarat Police begins probe, detains two after video goes viral

A 40-year-old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death by unidentified persons at a factory in Shapar industrial area of Rajkot on Sunday morning, media reports said.

Representational image. AFP

According to Ahmedabad Mirror, after a video of Mukesh Vaniya being thrashed by three men went viral, the Shapar Veraval police began an investigation and detained two men. Police officials informed Mirror that Vaniya, along with his wife Jaya, and another woman, Savita, was collecting trash in the vicinity of Radadiya Industries when workers from the factory attacked them.

The police has registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC for murder and also under various sections of the Atrocity Act, the report further said.

"Mukesh was a ragpicker. When he, along with wife Jaya and aunt, were picking up waste materials littered outside Radadiya Industries, the workers, whose identities are yet to be ascertained, picked a fight with him and accused him of theft. They took him inside the factory, tied him up and began beating him. Later, they phoned Jaya and asked her to take Mukesh away. Jaya rushed Mukesh to the Rajkot Civil Hospital where he died during treatment," Kiritsinh Jadeja, assistant sub-inspector, Shapar-Veraval police station, was quoted as saying in a report by The Times of India.

"We have registered a case against unidentified persons and are waiting for the post-mortem results. The body had wounds that could have been caused by blunt objects like sticks. The investigation has been handed over to a deputy superintendent of police rank officer," sub-inspector RG Sindhu told The Indian Express.