Dalit youth tortured to death over inter-caste affair

New Tehri (Uttarakhand) : 'His nails were pulled out with pliers, iron nails were driven into his feet and severe wounds were dealt to his genitals.'

Dalit youth tortured to death

An 18-year-old Dalit youth, Ketan Lal, was allegedly tortured and beaten to death in Uttarakhand's New Tehri over his friendship with a minor girl from an upper-caste family; his friend was seriously injured.

Police said Ketan and his friend were allegedly confined in a room and assaulted after being called to the girl's village on Sunday night.

The victim's family alleged extreme torture, including the pulling out of nails and grievous injuries, before Ketan succumbed during treatment.

Relatives and villagers refused to accept the body and staged protests, demanding the immediate arrest of all those involved and justice for the family.

An 18-year-old Dalit youth was allegedly tortured and beaten to death, and his friend severely injured, over his friendship with a minor girl from an upper caste community in the Pratapnagar block in Uttarakhand's New Tehri city, police have said.

The deceased, Ketan Lal, was a resident of Deval village. His injured friend, Diwakar Dimri, was admitted to the district hospital in Baurari.

According to a complaint lodged by Ketan's father, Dhanpal Lal, the incident occurred on Sunday night in Kholgarh village.

Ketan had reportedly been in a friendship with a girl from Kholgarh for the past six months.

Teen allegedly tortured over relationship with minor girl
According to the police, Ketan belonged to a Scheduled Caste community and was in a relationship with the minor daughter of Yashveer Singh.

The two had been speaking over the telephone for the past six months.

On Sunday at around 11 pm, the girl called Ketan on his mobile phone and asked him to come to her village. Ketan went to Kholgarh with Diwakar Dimri.

When they both arrived, members of the girl's family locked them both in a room and assaulted them with sticks, the police said.

Ketan was subjected to extreme physical torture, leaving deep bruises covering his back, chest and limbs, his family claimed.

His nails were pulled out with pliers, iron nails were driven into his feet and severe wounds were dealt to his genitals, Dhanpal Lal alleged.

Dhanpal Lal claimed that the attackers used pliers to pluck the teenager's fingernails and toenails, drove nails into his feet and caused severe injuries to his genitals.

On Monday morning, the girl's father called Dhanpal Lal to inform him about his son's condition and asked him to take him back. Dhanpal found his son covered in blood and rushed him to a community health centre in Chaund Lambgaon where he succumbed, the police said.

Ketan succumbed during treatment.

Irate locals and the family initially refused to claim the body from the hospital and demanded immediate action against the assaulters.

Irate villagers mobbed the Baurari District Hospital in New Tehri on Tuesday where the boy succumbed to the wounds. The family of the 18-year-old refused to accept his body for the last rites until all his attackers were arrested.

On Tuesday, Ketan's relatives and villagers demonstrated outside the hospital, accusing the police of failing to arrest the attackers.

Ketan's father, Dhanpal Lal, broke down while speaking to reporters.

"I will not take the body from here until all the culprits are arrested, even if it takes four days or ten days," Dhanpal Lal said.

"I am a poor man. I do not have the resources to run around courts for years. I want justice delivered right here. Only then will I take my son's body."

He said a video of the assault is on social media and all those gathered at the hospital have seen it.

Villagers submitted a memorandum to Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ghansali Manju Rajput addressed to the chief minister, demanding a fair probe, justice and security for the victim's family.

Tehri Garhwal Senior Superintendent of Police Shweta Choubey said a case under the charge of murder and Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was filed.

The police had initially detained for questioning one of the accused, Yashveer Singh Panwar, the SSP said.

The police have since arrested two primary suspects -- the girl's father, Yashveer Singh, and her grandfather, Vidya Singh.

Tehri Senior Superintendent of Police Shweta Choubey said two primary suspects have been arrested and an intensive investigation is underway to ensure no culprit is spared.

Police teams and forensic science experts have inspected the crime scene to secure evidence, she added.

Chief Medical Superintendent Dr Amit Rai said the post-mortem report would come in two days.

The Uttarakhand government announced compensation of Rs 8.25 lakh for the victim's family.