Police in Gujarat's Banaskantha district arrested six people for allegedly assaulting a pregnant Dalit woman.
The six upper caste men had attacked the woman as her family allegedly refused to remove animal carcasses from a field from Mota Karja village.
Nileshbhai Dhunabhai Ranavasia and his family were thrashed on Friday night because they refused to go the fields of the assailants to remove carcass of cattle.
His pregnant wife Sangitaben was brutally thrashed on the abdomen and abused by six persons, who also abused her in caste terms. "The moment we came to know of the incident, we got into action and arrested all the accused persons and are questioning them," Amirgath Police Sub-Inpector KY Vyas told IANS.
"They abused me and thrashed me before entering my house and beat my pregnant wife Sangita on the abdomen and all over her body with sticks," Ranavasia alleged in his complaint.
He said they also threatened to kill Sangitaben if he did not go to the farm to dispose of the dead animals.
District Superintendent of Police Neeraj Kumar told IANS that Deputy Superintendent of Police, Deesa, immediately took over the investigation "and within a few hours found and nabbed all the persons named by the complainant".
Those arrested were identified as Batwarsinh Chauhan, Maknusinh Chauhan, Yogisinh Chauhan, Babarsinh Chauhan, Dilgarsinh Chauhan and Narendrasinh Chauhan, all of the same family. Sections of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been invoked in the case.