A pregnant Dalit woman was attacked by some upper caste people who barged into their home after her family refused to clear animal carcasses from fields in Gujarat's Banaskantha district, police said Saturday. All six accused have been arrested.

The incident was reported from Mota Karja village in Amirgadh taluka in which Nileshbhai Dhunabhai Ranavasia and his family was thrashed on Friday night because they refused to go the fields of the assailants to remove carcass of cattle.

His pregnant wife Sangitaben was brutally thrashed on the abdomen and abused by six persons, who also abused her in caste terms. "The moment we came to know of the incident, we got into action and arrested all the accused persons and are questioning them," Amirgath Police Sub-Inpector K.Y. Vyas told IANS.

"They abused me and thrashed me before entering my house and beat my pregnant wife Sangita on the abdomen and all over her person with sticks," Ranavasia alleged in his complaint.

He said they also threatened to kill Sangitaben if he did not go to the farm to dispose of the dead animals.

District Superintendent of Police Neeraj Kumar told IANS that Deputy Superintendent of Police, Deesa, immediately took over the investigation "and within a few hours found and nabbed all the persons named by the complainant".

Those arrested were identified as Batwarsinh Chauhan, Maknusinh Chauhan, Yogisinh Chauhan, Babarsinh Chauhan, Dilgarsinh Chauhan and Narendrasinh Chauhan, all of own family. Sections of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been invoked in the case.

--IANS

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