india

Updated: Feb 25, 2020 06:13 IST

The medical report of the 23-year-old Dalit man, who was allegedly tortured by seven people in Rajasthan’s Nagaur district on February 16, shows the victim was hit by a blunt weapon and sustained multiple injuries.

The report by the medical board, headed by a medical jurist of Pt JLN Government Hospital in Nagaur, Dr Mahaveer Choyal, said multiple bluish bruises were found on the back of the victim’s body.

HT has a copy of the medical report.

“Bruise of 12 by 3 centimetres (cm) was found on the backside of thorax, 11 by 2 cm on the upper part of the buttock, 8 by 3 cm on the backside of right thighs,” according to the medical examination on February 19, the day FIR was registered.

The reports also said that the duration of injury was three to four days old.

Similarly, a brownish colour bruise of 10 by 1.5cm in size was found on his left arm and two blackish colour bruise of 14 by 2cm and 13 by 2cm were found on the left side of iliac—region close to the left buttock.

Also, a bruise of 7 by 2cm in size was found on the left thigh as slight reddish discolouration was noted in his anal regions.

However, the board has reserved its final opinion.

“Opinion reserved will be given after receiving FSL report for which relevant samples are preserved, sealed and handed over to concern police station,” the medical jurist said in the report.

The civil rights wing of the state police had ordered for a medical examination by a board on February 20 after the crime hit the headlines as the video of the incident went viral on social media.

The victim, a labourer, and his 18-year-old cousin went to Om Automobile in Karnu Village, about 60 km away from Nagaur town, to get their motorcycle serviced at about 2pm on February 16.

The labourer went inside the service station, while his cousin waited outside the shop.

“As I was coming out of the shop, I was pushed towards the billing counter by Bhim Singh, who is an employee at the service station. I was accused of stealing money kept in the locker. Though I denied the allegation, they started beating me,” said the labourer.

In the first information report (FIR), he claimed he was tortured.

“First, they tied my hands with ropes and then they beat me with rubber belts for the next 15-20 minutes,” he said.

In the videos, two Dalits are seen being beaten with fan belts and one of them, the 23-year-old, is stripped and violated with a screwdriver. One of the accused filmed the torture on his mobile phone.

Two more incidents of Dalits being beaten up have come to light in the last five days.

A video showing a group of people beating up three Dalit men, who allegedly stole five donkeys in Jaisalmer’s Rama village, was widely shared last Saturday.

Before that, a video from Barmer district surfaced on social media on Friday, in which a 22-year-old man was seen being beaten up by three men, who suspected that he had stolen a phone.