A 19-year-old man and his two minor accomplices have been taken into custody for allegedly assaulting a Dalit man, shaving his head, eyebrows, and moustache, and hurling casteist slurs at him in the Subhash Colony area of Ballabgarh, Faridabad, Haryana, police said on Wednesday.
The victim, identified as Sahil, was allegedly lured to a dispensary near his home on Monday evening, where he was beaten, humiliated, and later abandoned outside his residence.
According to the police, the main accused, once a close friend of Sahil, had been in conflict with him recently. “The two had known each other for around eight years. The accused wanted to ‘teach him a lesson’ due to a falling out,” said a police spokesperson.
Sahil, who is reportedly between 25 and 30 years old, is currently not in a condition to give a statement, officials said. “We are expecting to record his statement today,” the spokesperson added.
Despite the allegations of casteist slurs, the police said they have not found a caste angle so far, but have still registered a case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act due to Sahil’s community status.
Suraj, the victim’s cousin, filed the complaint at Adarsh Nagar police station. Police have dismissed reports that Sahil was forced to drink urine or was hung upside down during the assault.
Inspector Nafe Singh of Adarsh Nagar police station said, “The victim sustained minor injuries. The fight appears to be over group rivalry, not caste.”
The main accused was sent to judicial custody by a local court on Wednesday. The two minors were presented before the Juvenile Justice Board.
This story was originally published in theobserverpost.com.