bhopal

Updated: Oct 01, 2017 23:08 IST

A 40-year-old Dalit man was beaten to death for allegedly stealing 15kg lentils from the agriculture farm of an upper caste villager in Guna district late on Saturday evening.

The victim was identified as Neelam Ahirwar. Police have booked 24 upper caste villagers in a case of murder.

According to police, Deenbandhu Sharma, a resident of Mahukhan village of the district, beat up Neelam Ahirwar on September 16 with 10 others, alleging that Ahirwar had stolen 15kg lentils from his farm.

Sharma also registered a case against Ahirwar at Myana police station and handed him over to the cops.

Ahirwar was released on bail and a case was registered against Sharma and some other villagers under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

“This didn’t go down well with the upper caste community members. A number of people from the upper caste entered Ahirwar’s house with sticks and canes and attacked him and his family members. Ahirwar was injured seriously, while his wife received injuries to her head. Ahirwar was rushed to a hospital where he died during treatment,” said Avinash Singh, superintendent of police, Guna.

Ahirwar’s son Chhotu said villagers belonging to the upper caste community had lodged a fake complaint against his father and later beaten him to death.

“We are very poor and he was the only breadwinner of the family. Now, we are also scared of them because if they can kill my father for lodging a complaint, then they can kill us too,” said Chhotu.

Police have assured protection for the family and promised to arrest the culprits at the earliest.