Twenty booked for assaulting Dalit men in Bhuj village

Rajkot: Two Dalit men were allegedly assaulted and subjected to casteist slurs by a mob at Naranpar village of Bhuj taluka in Kutch district on Thursday, purportedly over suspicions that they had molested upper caste girls from the village.
A case was registered against 20 individuals at Mankuva police station on Friday by Jayanti Maheshwari, one of the victims.
The FIR accuses Bharat Kerai, Kishan Hirani, Kaushik Hirani, three unidentified women and 14 other men of offences under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 189, 190, 191 (2), 192, 115 (2), 125 (a) and 325 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Jayanti, an electrician, and his friend Sachin Maheshwari had gone for a picnic near Naranpar village on a motorcycle.
According to the complaint, when they reached near a temple at about 7pm, there were a few girls there. They were intercepted by three women who accused them of molesting the girls, which they denied. A mob gathered and on learning that the two were from the Dalit community, hurled casteist abuse at them and accused them of molesting the upper caste girls. The mob proceeded to beat and kick both, demanding that they call their parents.
Jayanti called his mother, Gauri, who arrived with Jayanti's boss, Shaukat, in a car. Shaukat mediated and calmed the mob and made the two victims sit in his car. Despite Shaukat's attempt, the victims were pulled out of the car and assaulted again by the mob. They managed to get back into the car, but the mob pelted stones, damaging the vehicle's glass. Police eventually arrived, rescued the victims, and admitted them to hospital.