A 22-year-old man died in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj district after members of another caste community allegedly assaulted him, The Indian Express reported on Thursday. Police said that members of the Thakur community assaulted the man, Sonu Yadav, because they were offended by a video he uploaded on social media.
Tensions have erupted at the Khuli Bari village in the Kaundhiyara area, where the incident occurred. Police personnel have been deployed to ensure calm.
The assault took place during a scuffle between two sides after a youth living in the village objected to the video Yadav had posted. The video, which he posted on July 26, had objectionable casteist comments, The Hindu quoted Saurabh Dixit, additional Superintendent of Police, Yamunapar, as saying.
Yadav was taken to a hospital, where he died the next day.
The police have arrested four persons in connection with the case – Shishu Pal Singh, his sons Preetam Singh and Piyam Singh, and their relative Shyam Singh. The police are also investigating two others.
Anurag Bhadouria, a Samajwadi Party spokesperson, said that Sonu Yadav was a party worker and claimed that “state-protected goons killed him only because he had played a song of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.”
“Action must be taken against the murderers, and jungle raj must end,” he said.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the incident was highly condemnable. “At times, the Bharatiya Janata Party endangers young people’s freedom of expression by threatening to confiscate their property, while at other times, it does so through murders by goons who enjoy state protection...I pay my condolences. We all stand with the bereaved family.”
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