Gandhinagar: A 21-year-old Dalit youth was allegedly hacked to death by upper caste men on Thursday evening for riding a horse in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat.

There were reservations from upper caste youth to a Dalit, Pradip Rathod, riding a horse and they had even threatened his family.

Rathod was riding back on his horse to his home from the farm when the incident took place.

The Umrala police have arrested the three accused after the family refused to cremate Pradip until the arrests were made. The human rights activists help build the pressure on police.

In the complaint to the police, the family said that Natubha Darbar and his friends had threatened the family when they purchased a horse worth Rs 30,000 for Pradip.

Pradip had been asking his father to buy a horse for him for a long time.

When contacted, cops at the Umrala police station in Bhavnagar said that a case of murder has been registered against one Natubha Darbar, a resident of Timbi village, and two others.

Kalubhai Rathod, Pradip’s father, said that he purchased a horse for his son about four months ago. The father recalled that a week before the death, the family was threatened.

“They said that a Dalit should not ride a horse as no Dalits in Timbi and surrounding villages own a horse,” said Pradip’s father.

Timbi has a population of about 5000 people, a majority of whom are Darbars or Kshatriyas.

There are about 40 Dalit families who stay in the village, rights activists said.