Seven tribals thrashed for 'stealing fish' in Chhattisgarh; 10 held
Seven tribals, including a minor boy, all belonging to Pando tribal community, were thrashed with sticks in front of villagers in the Balrampur District of Chhattisgarh after they were accused of stealing fishes from a pond, following which husband of the village sarpanch and nine others were arrested on Monday, police said. Videos of the brutality went viral on various social media platforms.
Victims were forcibly taken to the farmhouse of Sarpanch's husband
"The incident occurred on June 15 in Chera village under Trikunda Police Station limits but a case was registered only on Monday after a complaint was lodged by one of the victims," said Dhruvesh Jaiswal, Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP), Wadrafnagar. "They were forcibly taken to the farmhouse of Satyam Yadav, the husband of the village Sarpanch," the officer added,
They were brutally beaten with sticks during 'jan chaupal'
"At the farmhouse, Yadav and others allegedly held a jan chaupal during which all the seven people were brutally beaten up with sticks," SDOP said. A video clip shows victims being purportedly made to stand one by one by holding a tree. A man is seen beating them up with sticks repeatedly on their backs. They were also slapped and abused when they objected.
Accused imposed a fine of Rs. 35,000 on each victim
"The accused also imposed a fine of Rs. 35,000 on each of the victims accusing them of stealing fishes and eating them," the SDOP said, adding that the accused had threatened the victims with dire consequences if they approached the police.
All of them have been remanded in judicial custody
"However, one of the victims lodged a complaint in this connection following which the accused were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act," the SDOP said. "The accused were produced in a local court which remanded them in judicial custody," he added.
Identities of other accused persons
"The other accused are identified as Jitendra Pratap Yadav, Banshidhar Yadav, Basdev Yadav, Alok Yadav, Jitendra Yadav, Jai Prakash Yadav, Jamuna Yadav, Devsai Yadav and Dinanath Yadav," the SDOP said
