The Telangana police on Friday arrested four people for brutally assaulting an 18-year-old young Dalit man, and forcing him to drink urine. The man was attacked for reportedly being in a relationship with a woman from the Goud community, which is categorized as a Backward Caste. The horrific crime took place in Ponkal village in Mancherial district.
Police said that the accused--Muthyam Sai, Garipetti Harish Goud, Patkut Prashanth and Azmath Khan-- remained elusive. After receiving inputs that the accused were trying to flee on motorcycles, the accused were detained near Dharmaram point in Peddapalle district at around 7.50 am, police said.
Following the investigation, the accused confessed to the crime, Mancherial police said. Subsequently they were produced before the court.
The accused were arrested under the SC and ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and were also charged under IPC section 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 290 (Punishment for public nuisance) and 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
On May 17, they attacked the Dalit man from the Mala community. The woman, who is also 18-years-old, eloped with the man. However, the woman’s relative Harish Goud and his three friends waylaid the victim’s friend, Abdul. Abdul too was assaulted, and he disclosed that the couple were hiding at a temple in Jannaram village outskirts.
The accused committed many atrocities on the victim, disrobing him and threatening to kill him for transgressing the caste hierarchy.
The victim, however, escaped from their clutches and took shelter at the Jannaram police station. Subsequently, he was admitted to a local hospital for treatment.
Following a petition from the victim, the police registered a case against the accused on May 18.
In his petition to the police, the victim wrote, “They tore my clothes apart, asked why I need their girl despite being a lower caste person and abused me with casteist slurs.”