india

Updated: May 09, 2019 22:20 IST

A 20-year-old man was battling for his life in Pune on Thursday with multiple gunshot wounds a day after he was allegedly fired upon for marrying a woman from a different caste against her family’s wishes a year back, a police officer said.

Tushar Prakash Pisal was shot in his stomach, chest, and neck and his condition was said to be critical. Pisal belongs to the Maratha caste, while his wife, Vidya, 25, is from Shimpi community that comes under the Other Backward Class category.

Vidya’s two brothers, a cousin and their friend, Akash, 22, Sagar Taware, 24, Raju Taware, 21 and Sagar Palve, fired on Pisal on Wednesday at Pune’s Chandani Chowk. Barring Akash Taware, the rest of the accused were arrested on Thursday.

Police said the assailants came on motorcycles and accosted Pisal. They told him death was certain before firing on him. Inspector (crime) Ajay Jogdand of Pune’s Hinjewadi police station said Vidya’s brothers were furious that their sister had married outside their caste, which was unacceptable to their family.

The attack on Pisal is the third such case in Maharashtra since March. In Ahmednagar, a 19-year-old woman’s father and uncles allegedly set her on fire along with her husband for their intercaste marriage. Rukmini succumbed to burn injuries while her husband, Mangesh Ransingh, 24, suffered about 50% burn injuries on May 1.

A 19-year-old man from Pune district suffered 55% burn injuries after the family members of a girl he was in a relationship with allegedly set him on fire on May 3. Kismat Shabbir Shaikh is currently undergoing treatment at a Solapur hospital.