Dalit man accused of theft, brutally assaulted by group of men in TN
A deeply disturbing video has emerged from Tamil Nadu, showing a group of men brutally attacking a Dalit man, accusing him of theft. The incident which happened in Thanjavur district on Wednesday, has grabbed attention after the video of the attack got widely shared in social media. Thanjavur police told TNM that four men have been arrested for attacking the man.
According to the police, after being thrashed by the group, the man tried for suicide by intaking poison and is presently under treatment in critical care in Thanjavur Medical College Hospital.
In the video, a group of men could be seen making the Dalit man kneel down in front of them, with his eyes tied with a cloth. Then making him stand facing a tree, with his hands stretched by two men, another man takes a wooden log and starts to beat the victim black and blue.
He was then made to stand facing a tree with both of his hands stretched and held by two other people. Another man could then be seen beating his back black and blue with a wooden stick.
Though the man can be seen crying and pleading asking the men to stop beating him, they continued to thrash him. “Anna (brother), anna..please leave me..I won’t do it..I won’t take it,” the man can be heard saying amidst his sobs.
Though during a point, the person recording the incident can be heard saying “enough”, the beatings continued.
Talking to TNM, Deshmukh Shekhar Sanjay, Thanjavur Superintendent of Police said that the police got the information after the man got admitted in hospital following his suicide attempt on Wednesday night. “We have arrested four of the men who attacked the man and have been booked under various sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,” the SP said.
The officer also added that the accused are alleging that the man stole money from one of their houses. However it is yet to be verified. “All of them know each other very well and this is the allegation they are making,” he added.
In an almost similar incident that happened in Kerala in 2018, a tribal man lost his life in Palakkad district after being manhandled by a group of men, who accused him of having stolen food.
