UP: Three held for assault on Dalit youths in Amethi village

The father of one of the accused said on Friday, “No bicycle has been found anywhere. My children did not steal anything.”

While the incident took place on Sunday, the police lodged FIR in the matter after a video was circulated widely on social media on Thursday — in it, the three can be seen being made to become a “murga” (a stress position used as corporal punishment). The video purportedly shows the trio begging the accused to let them go, while they are being hit repeatedly with sticks.

Authenticity of the video could not be verified immediately.

Six people booked in the case have been identified as Sachin Yadav, Sade, Manoj, Prem, Durga Prasad and Dayaram. “All of them except Dayaram, who is 45, are in their twenties,” Circle Officer Gurmeet Singh said.

The accused have been booked under IPC Sections, including those for rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace and wrongful confinement. Sections of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been invoked, police said.

“We have arrested Sachin, Prem and Dayaram. They have been sent to jail. We are looking for the others. We may add other names to the FIR,” the officer said.

CO Singh said: “On June 6, there was a bhandara (public meal) in the area. A bicycle was stolen and it was rumoured that the victims were responsible. Some people called the trio and beat them up. They also humiliated them by forcing them to hold their ears through their legs, as others watched. All this happened at the farm of the accused.”

The father of one of the victims, who works as a mason, alleged that the three were assaulted because of their caste.

“They heard a rumour that my son and two of our relatives stole a cycle. This was just an excuse. They wanted to humiliate us and show their influence,” he told The Indian Express on Friday. “After the so-called theft of the bicycle, four of us were called to the farm of one of the accused, and three youngsters were humiliated… I was also beaten up.”