In a shocking case of caste-based violence, a 25-year-old Dalit man was kidnapped, beaten and forced to drink urine by eight men over old animosity in Churu district of Rajasthan, police said on Sunday.
According to the police complaint filed by victim Rakesh Meghwal, a resident of Rukhasar village, on January 27, the accused kidnapped him from his house at around 11 pm the previous night and took him to a field in an SUV.
They forced him to drink liquor after which they urinated in the same bottle and forced it down his throat, Mr Meghwal alleged in his complaint at the Ratangarh police station.
He also alleged that the accused used casteist slurs and other derogatory terms saying the Dalits would be taught a lesson for confronting them as all of them belonged to an 'influential' community.
The victim said the accused had grudges against him as they had clashed during Holi celebration last year.
Police have booked the attackers under multiple sections of the IPC Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 365 (abduction), 382 (theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt, or restraint), Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of atrocities) Act. They have named Umesh, Rajesh, Tarachand, Rakesh, Birbal, Akshay, Dinesh and Bidadi Chand as accused in the FIR.
The FIR said the accused allegedly abused Meghwal using casteist slurs and said that the Dalits will be “would be taught a lesson” for having the “audacity” of getting into a confrontation with the Jat community.