The Gujarat Police have arrested three men for stripping and beating up four Dalit men in Somnath district after finding the skin of a cow in their possession, reported The Hindu. The victims were skinning a dead cow they had bought, when around six men intervened and started asking them how and where they got it. They accused the Dalit of killing the animal and started thrashing them.
The assault was caught on camera and it went viral when one of the accused uploaded it, cautioning people against killing bovine creatures unless they want to meet the same fate. The video shows several men stripping the victims, tying them to an SUV and beating them up with iron pipes and sticks.
The accused, who belong to a local cow protection committee, then took the four men to a nearby village and assaulted them further before taking them to Una town, which is 24 km from the spot, according to The Times of India. Police Inspector NU Zala said the men stopped their vehicle on their way and thrashed the victims in the middle of the road. Three people who tried to stop them were also beaten up.
“We have arrested three persons and lodged an FIR. We will deal with them as they have no right to beat up people. A few persons are still at large but we will nab them soon,” a police official said. Local Shiv Sena activist Ramesh Goswami defended the incident and said, “We had information about some people killing cow for beef. We had also informed the police about the same.” He added that cow slaughter will not be tolerated in the area.
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