india

Updated: Jul 09, 2019 22:23 IST

A Dalit man was allegedly killed by the upper-caste family of his wife at Vermora village in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on Monday night. Haresh Solanki, 35, a resident of Gandhidham in Kutch, had gone to pick up his wife, Arpita, along with officials from state-run women helpline Abhayam when he was killed.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed by Abhayam’s Bhavika Bhagora, Arpita’s father, Dasrathsinh Zala, and some other men attacked Solanki as he was waiting in an Abhayam vehicle outside his house. According to Bhagora, she and a woman constable were negotiating Arpita’s return with her family.

“I tried to stop the relatives from reaching Solanki, but they hit me, smashed the front screen of the vehicle with sticks. They dragged Solanki out of the four-wheeler and clubbed him to death,” said Bhagora.

Deputy police superintendent (Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Cell) P D Manvar said that Solanki sustained injuries to his head and other parts of the body in the attack and died.

He said the FIR has been registered against eight people, including Solanki’s in-laws, under sections 302 (murder), 341 (wrongful restraint), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 147 (rioting) and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. “The accused fled their house after the incident and efforts are on to nab them,” Manvar said.

Solanki and Arpita married six months ago against the wishes of her family. A few months later, her father took her home, promising that she would return, but Solanki didn’t hear from them. On Monday, Solanki sought Abhayam’s help. Arpita was pregnant.

Dalit rights activist Kirit Rathod, who rushed the murder scene, said it was an inter-caste marriage and Arpita’s family was against it since Solanki was a Dalit.

(With agency inputs)