Members of Dalit family thrashed for skinning dead cattle in Gujarat's Anand

Members of a Dalit family were beaten up for skinning dead cattle in Gujarat’s Anand on Saturday night, according to media reports. This incident comes a year after seven Dalits in Una  were thrashed by cow vigilantes for skinning a dead cow. [caption id=“attachment_3888199” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Shailesh Rohit, 21, and his mother Maniben, 45, in Kasor village were first subjected to verbal abuse and then thrashed with sticks by nearly 20 people, according to a report in  The Times of India. Subsequently, Sojitra police booked five persons under Sections 323, 506 (2) of the Indian Penal Code and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocity) Act, the report added. On 12 July, a ‘ Freedom March ’ was taken out from Mehsana town to commemorate the first anniversary of the Una Dalit flogging incident. A day before the march, Dalit activists as well as the victims of atrocities from across India, including the Una incident victims, gathered in Ahmedabad to participate in a conclave where they highlighted their demands. On 11 July, 2016, seven Dalits of Mota Samadhiyala village of Una taluka in Gir-Somnath district were allegedly thrashed when they were skinning dead cattle. Later, four of these Dalit youths were taken to Una, tied to a vehicle and allegedly thrashed by the gau rakshaks. The matter came to light after a video of the incident, allegedly made by the vigilantes, went viral on social media and created a huge uproar.