VADODARA/ANAND: Almost a year after the

flogging incident, a repeat of the same brutality against a man and his mother of the same community has rocked

once again.

For nearly 20 minutes on Saturday night, Shailesh Rohit, 21, and Maniben, 45, who were skinning dead cattle, were allegedly beaten up by a group of people from the Darbar (

) community at Kasor village in

district. They were subjected to verbal abuse and then thrashed with sticks by nearly 20 people. Shailesh lodged a police complaint on Saturday night naming five persons. "On Friday, Darbar community members threatened me to stop the skinning work saying it was raising a stink in their locality. To avoid any rouble, I left for my house. But on Saturday night, we were attacked by the mob at our house in Rohitvaas," said Shailesh.

Around 25 families living in Rohitvaas earn a living by skinning dead animals.

Sojitra police have booked five persons along with a mob of around 20 persons under Sections 323, 506 (2) of the IPC and under the SC/ST Act. The five accused named in the FIR are Dholabhai Parmar, Vijay Phula Parmar, younger son of Narsinhbhai Parmar, Jaimin Parmar and Kaushik Parmar.

Khmabat

D D Damor, who is investigating the case, said, "Since the information regarding the accused was incomplete, we have met the family and collected names of seven more assailants, who have fled the village." Damor said the family has been provided round-the-clock security.

Kasor village with over 5,000 households is dominated by the Kshatriya community. "Dalits in villages of Anand district are facing discrimination and atrocities. There are temples in Khambhat town, villages like Saiyadpura and Sundalpura in Umreth where Dalits are not allowed to enter," said Kiran Solanki, president of Dalit Atyachar Nivaran Samiti, Anand.

"A couple of months ago, a Dalit in Borsad town was brutally beaten up by members of the Kshatriya community but the matter did not come to light due to political pressure," he said.

Community leaders are upset with the way police is handling the matter. "We are going to make a representation regarding this before the DSP of Anand on Wednesday," said Solanki.