Father-son duo held for torching Dalit family’s house in Pilibhit

Pilibhit: A father-son duo was arrested for allegedly setting the house of a Dalit family on fire in Piparia Mandan village under Barkhera police station limits early on Saturday.

Pilibhit SP Sukirti Madhav told TOI that the accused suspected the family of abducting a 20-year-old woman from their household. The woman went missing under mysterious circumstances on Thursday evening, and police registered a missing person report the next day.

Complainant Nanhe Lal (35) said he had gone to Etah district on June 26 to drop off a group of labourers when the incident took place. He alleged that Akash Pandey and his father, Bhannu Pandey, reached his house, hurled casteist slurs at his family, and set the thatched front portion of the house on fire.

His wife and children escaped unhurt, but the grain and firewood stored in the house were allegedly reduced to ashes, while the main door of the pucca structure was damaged.

“As locals gathered at the spot to help, the accused fled after threatening to kill the entire family,” Lal alleged. He added that the duo had accused him of abducting Bhannu Pandey’s daughter-in-law.

SHO Satyandra Kumar said that a case was registered against both the accused under relevant sections of the BNS and the SC/ST Act. They were arrested and sent to jail. Additional police personnel have been deployed in the village to prevent any untoward incident.

Courtesy : TOI

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