HISAR: Refusal to work in the fields of two upper caste men proved fatal for a dalit labourer in Kharia village of Hisar district. Victim Mahaveer, 47, was brutally attacked on the night of August 16 and eventually died of injuries at a private hospital on Wednesday. His family refused to accept his body after postmortem and blocked the road adjacent the civil hospital. One of the accused has been arrested and police have registered a case of murder against the two persons and also booked them under Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST Act.

Victim's younger brother Dharampal Kharia alleged in the police complaint that on August 15, Vikram and his friend Ajeet had asked Mahaveer to work in their fields, but he had refused. He said that the two men started to thrash Mahaveer. "They fled from the spot when they saw us approaching," alleged Dharampal.

He further mentioned in the complaint that on August 16, Mahaveer was found in a pool of blood in the fields near the village. He was rushed to civil hospital where the doctors referred him to Post Graduate Institute of Medcial Sciences ( PGIMS ), Rohtak. However, Mahaveer was shifted to a private hospital for treatment where he died. Acting on the complaint by the victim's brother, the police arrested Ajeet while Vikram is on the run. Police said that the other accused would soon be arrested.

