Dalit family accuses upper caste men of assault, vandalism

Eight members of a Scheduled Caste family, including two women, were injured in an attack allegedly by upper caste men in Palwal’s Pingore village following an altercation over switching off the lights on Sunday in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call.

Also read: Family attacked in Haryana’s Palwal for allegedly not adhering to PM’s lights-out call

Thirty-one people have been named in the FIR. Three persons were detained on Wednesday evening.

Dhanpal, the complainant, said the call for lights-out on Sunday was only for nine minutes starting at 9 p.m. and they had switched off their lights. He said around 9.30 p.m. around 35 people belonging to the Gujjar community barged into his house casting casteist slurs and ordered them to keep their lights switched off the whole night. He said the accused, armed with sticks, iron rods and bricks, beat them up and vandalised the house. They also threatened them with dire consequences if the matter was reported to the police.

Besides Dhanpal, his son and daughter, five more members of his family suffered injuries in the attack.

Station House Officer, Sadar, Jitender Kumar said the children of the two families had fallen out over switching off the lights in response to the PM’s call and the matter then escalated. The two parties pelted each other with stones and a vehicle parked in a house was also damaged.

The police officer said the accused were on the run. “Three persons have been detained in this connection. The matter is being investigated by a Deputy Superintendent of Police-level officer,” said Mr. Kumar.

A case of causing hurt and criminal intimidation, among others, has been registered.