By Atul Howale
New Delhi: A seventeen-year-old minor from Ghalanimb village in Ahilyanagar (formerly Ahmednagar) district of Maharashtra died by suicide at home on October 28 after being allegedly attacked brutally by the local cow vigilantes.
According to his family, he later came under mental stress because videos of his assault and messages calling him a “Hindu Dalal” were circulating on social media.
The victim left home around 11 am on October 27 to deliver a local cow from Guha village in Rahuri taluka to his uncle’s house in Chandewadi. He was driving his father’s Tata Ace goods vehicle tempo when a group of cow vigilantes – Dinesh Rakhecha, Prashant Rakhecha, Sanket Kharde, Saurabh Lahamge and a few unidentified individuals – stopped his vehicle on the Kolhar–Rajuri road.
They found that he was carrying a cow inside and started abusing and beating him. They demanded his name, village, age and driving-license details, and allegedly asked him to pay Rs 5,000.
When the victim told them he did not have the money, the men called the police. Officers from Loni police station reached the spot and took victim, along with the cow and the vehicle, and brought them to the police station.
The police registered a case against the minor under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (Sections 181 and 3(1)), for driving without a licence, and under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976 (Sections 5, 5(C), 9 and 12(A)), for alleged illegal transportation of cattle.
However, without no charges were filed nor was any action taken against the cow vigilantes who assaulted him.
Trial by social media
The night of the assault, photos and videos of the minor being beaten up were circulated on Instagram and WhatsApp, and one of the messages referred to him as a “Hindu Dalal”. The Wire has seen the alleged messages on WhatsApp.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
