Five Dalit youths on Monday attempted suicide in protest against brutal assault on fellow community members for alleged skinning of cows in Una town of Gir Somnath district.
According to police, Anil Madhad, Jagdish Rathod, Bharat Solanki, Raju Parmar and Ramesh Parghi, all residents of Gondal town, tried to kill themselves by consuming phenyl in Saurashtra town Gondal. Madhad is a sitting Congress councillor of Gondal municipality.
All five are now being treated at a hospital in Gondal.
Hundreds of Dalits gathered in Gondal town, around 45 km from Saurashtra region’s largest city Rajkot to protest against atrocity committed against Dalits in Una. They demanded strict action against the accused. They took out a protest march from Gondal town to civil hospital. Police resorted to lathi-charge after some of the protesters pelted stone on Government buses
later, the Dalits brought animal carcasses loaded in three vehicles to Deputy Collector’s office and staged a dharna demanding swift action against the accused involved in Dalit atrocities. They also threatened to stop disposing of animal carcasses from villages and towns.
In Saurashtra city in Surendranagar also, members of Dalit communities brought and dumped animal carcasses at Tehsildar’s office. They staged a protest rally in the town.
“We have made adequate arrangements to control the situation,” Antrip Sood, SP, Rajkot Rural, said.
last week, a video of some men beating half-naked members of Dalit community went viral. The men, who claimed to be cow protectors, were shown beating the Dalit men allegedly for skinning a dead cow.
The Opposition Congress also decided to submit memorandum to the Gujarat Governor on Tuesday and request him to take quick action against the accused.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel took to Twitter to express her pain over the incident. “Deeply pained by the incident,” she tweeted on Monday. Gir Somnath district administration has paid Rs 1 lakh each to all the victims, she added.
The Gujarat Government announced to set up a special designated court in consultation with High Court for the trial of the accused in the case. The Government also decided to hand over the case to CID crime branch.
As many as eight people were booked under Atrocities Act and four police personnel were suspended in the case. The case is being investigated by Deputy Superintendent of Police of SC/ST cell.