12-year-old Dalit killed for stealing wheat

LUCKNOW - A 12-year-old Dalit boy was allegedly beaten to death by a group of villagers in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi district for stealing wheat from the fields, police said Friday.

Three men have been booked for killing the Dalit boy, police said.

Kamlesh Kumar, a resident of Kashipur village in Hardoi, about 110 km from Lucknow, was Thursday repeatedly assaulted with wooden sticks and iron rods, following which he died in the fields.

According to police, Kumar was initially spotted hiding in the wheat fields of Neeraj Singh.

When Singh learned about Kumar’s presence in his field, he along with two of his aides started beating Kumar, accusing him of stealing wheat, they added.

“Preliminary investigations reveal the three men killed the Dalit boy. All the three are absconding,” police inspector Arvind Rathore told reporters in Hardoi.

“We have detained some of Singh’s close associates to ascertain his whereabouts,” he said.