Maharashtra: Dalit youth killed by angry upper castes when Ambedkar Jayanti was celebrated in the village

The deceased was a worker of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, the accused killed him with a knife
Satya Prakash Bharti

Published on: Jun 4, 2023 at 7:31 pm

Maharashtra. A 24-year-old Dalit youth was brutally thrashed and stabbed to death by some people angry over the celebration of Bhimrao Ambedkar’s birth anniversary in Nanded district. There was a stir in the area after this incident. After the information, the police reached the spot, took stock and started action. Police have arrested seven people in connection with the murder.

Learn about the case in detail?

Akshay Bhalerao (27), a resident of Bondar Haveli village in Nanded district of Maharashtra, belonged to the Scheduled Caste community. Akash was also an executive member of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. According to the information, on the evening of June 1, Akshay had gone to the grocery store with his brother Akash to buy goods. On the way there was a wedding at Narayan Vishwanath Tidke’s house. Some youths involved in the procession were dancing with swords and daggers in the procession. When those youths saw Akshay Bhalerao and his brother Akash, one started saying that ‘How dare he celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14 in the village.’ There was a heated argument about this matter. Meanwhile, the accused beat Akshay Bhalerao badly and stabbed him to death. The accused also thrashed Akshay’s brother fiercely.

After getting information about the incident, the police reached the spot and took Akshay Bhalerao to the nearest hospital, where the doctors declared him brought dead. In this case, the police have registered sections 143, 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 324, 323, 294, and 504 of the IPC, Section 4, 25, 27 of the Arms Act and Section 3 of the SC/ST Act ( 1)(r), 3(1)(s) and 3(2)(va) have filed a case. The police have arrested seven accused and started investigation in the case.

There have been attacks on celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti earlier also

On April 14, 2023, Ambedkar Jayanti procession was attacked by upper caste people in the presence of police in Mathura’s Jait area. During this, 11 policemen were injured. A case was registered against 30-40 people in this incident. The main accused in the incident were identified as Surajbhan Singh, Hukum Singh and Pratap Singh.

Bajrang Dal attack on celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti in Odisha, 25 vehicles vandalized

On 14 April 2022, Dalits celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti in Odisha were attacked by Bajrang Dal. During this, about 25 vehicles were vandalised, banners were torn and urinated on, attacked with knives, glass bottles and sticks. 4 people were seriously injured in the incident.