Sayeed was pressurising the woman’s father, Fazal Mohammed Nawab Ali, to withdraw the case, but the latter refused

A 55-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death by seven people here in Maharashtra after he refused to withdraw a molestation case lodged by his daughter against one of them, police said.

Four of the attackers, including Sayyad Sayeed who had allegedly molested the woman, have been arrested while a search is on for the other accused, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ratnakar Navale said Monday.

The woman was allegedly molested by Sayeed at Golden Nagar in Malegaon town of Nashik in 2015, he said.

She had registered a complaint against him at Pawardi police station and the case is pending in a local court.

Sayeed was pressurising the woman’s father, Fazal Mohammed Nawab Ali, to withdraw the case, but the latter refused, the police official said.

On Saturday night, Sayeed and some of his accomplices stopped Ali while he was returning home on his motorcycle in Malegaon and allegedly beat him up severely with wooden sticks, he said.

Ali suffered serious injuries in the attack and died on way to hospital, Navale said.

Based on a complaint filed by the deceased’s son, the Pawardi police arrested four accused, including Sayeed, on Monday, while a search was on four the three others, he said.

The accused have been booked under IPC sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 147, 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation), Navale added.