MEERUT: A Dalit youth, 19-year-old Rohit Todiwan, was killed in stone-pelting after he protested an incident of harassment of a girl by upper caste boys. Police said residents of Ulledpur in Meerut’s Ganganagar had gone to witness a kanwar yatra on Wednesday, when a brawl broke out between local youths over the girl’s harassment.

While village elders settled the matter, members of a few Dalit families again took it up with upper caste people on Thursday. This led to a heated argument which triggered stone-pelting between Dalits and men from the upper caste men. Rohit was fatally wounded in the stonepelting and died later.

The deceased’s family, however, claimed Rohit was ambushed by close to a dozen upper caste youths on Thursday and attacked with lathis and (iron rods).

Police claimed around a dozen people from both sides were injured in the incident, and have filed an FIR against 10 youths from the upper caste under IPC sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and have already arrested four youths.

