A Dalit farm worker and his son were allegedly tied to a tree and beaten up on suspicion that he helped his son elope with a Muslim girl. The assault on the duo took place at a village in north Karnataka’s Vijayapura district on Sunday.

Mareppa Harijan, a Dalit man from Haligondakanal village of Sindgi taluk, in his complaint to the police, said one Mehboobsab assaulted him, reported The Hindu. He said that while his son Ningappa had left home a month ago, the daughter of Mehboobsab went missing a fortnight ago, leading the man to believe that Mareppa had helped the two elope.

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Mehboobsab and his son Allabaksha allegedly beat up Mareppa, and when his younger son Ramesh tried to intervene, he was also thrashed.

But Mareppa’s youngest son Ambarish Harijan told The Times of India that Ningappa was in love with a girl from Neeralagi village and had eloped 20 days ago. “We approached the girl’s family members and requested them to send Ningappa home if they find him. However, seven members of the girl’s family rushed to our village on June 25 and tied our father Mareppa to tree and started assaulting him. When my brother Ramesh objected, he too was tied to a tree and beaten up.”

The farm worker has now been admitted to the district hospital. The police told The Times of India that while they rescued Mareppa and Harijan, the duo initially refused to file a police complaint. But Mareppa finally filed a complaint on Wednesday. Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Jain said to The Hindu that the police have filed a case against seven persons in connection with the assault, and one of them has been arrested.

This is the second incident of violence in Vijayapura district involving Dalits and Muslims. On June 3, a 21-year-old pregnant Muslim woman was allegedly burnt to death by her family for eloping and marrying a Dalit.