Dalit man lynched in Ghaziabad by seven youths

GHAZIABAD - A Dalit man was allegedly lynched by seven higher caste youths over a minor altercation in Ghaziabad, neighbouring the national capital, police said Monday.

The incident occurred Sunday night in Chitaura locality of this city.

According to police, the man, Surendra, 45, went to Hapur to buy a cow and was returning to his home in Noorpur with the purchase alongwith his wife and daughter when he was accosted by seven youths near Chitaura locality on the Upper Ganges canal.

The seven youths asked him why he had a cow with him. Surendra ignored their persistent questions and kept walking. Angered by his behaviour, the youths started beating him mercilessly. His wife Dharmawati and daughter tried to intervene, but were unable to save him.

When the youths saw that Surendra had died, they hung his body from a tree and fled. Before escaping, they warned his wife and daughter not to report the incident and threatened them with dire consequences.

The woman rushed to the police station and narrated the incident and took the police with her to the spot of crime. The police found Surendra hanging from a tree.

Dharmawati filed a complaint with the police and named the seven youths. They were identified as: Gaurav, Bhure, Nitin, Debu, Amit, Girish and Pinki. The police arrested five of them and are conducting raids to arrest the others, said Superintendent of Police, Rural, M.M. Beg.

“The accused belonged to the Chitaura locality and were from the dominant Jat community of the area while the victim was a Dalit of the nearby Noorpur locality,” the official added.