Dalit boy thrashed over 'love affair'

An 18-year-old Dalit boy from Mehsana was allegedly abducted and thrashed by two persons in Patan over a love affair. The incident came to light on Wednesday following which his family filed an FIR in the case, said Patan police. As per case details, Meet Chavda, a class 12 Arts student, was waiting to enter his board examination centre in Dhinoj in Patan, about 14 km from his Mehsana home, when he was approached by two persons.

After taking him out of the exam centre, they asked him to go with them on a twowheeler to some place. When he objected saying he had to write an exam, they said they would drop him back immediately. “They then took him to an isolated farm and thrashed him, demanding that he ‘forget about the girl’,” said police.

Though the incident took place on Monday, Meet did not reveal the incident to anyone. It was his mother who noticed the wounds on his back and arms on Wednesday morning. She informed the rest of the family and he was taken for treatment. A complaint was filed under the IPC and Atrocity Act at 2 pm on March 20.

RP Zala, DySP of SC/ST Cell in Patan, told Mirror, “The case was registered only after the police were informed by the hospital. We are trying to identify the two accused. At present, we know the name of just one of them, Ramesh Patel, a conductor.”

He added, “We have begun investigations at the ST depot to find out how many conductors are named Ramesh and about their whereabouts at the time of the incident. We are trying to get CCTV footages from the road which the accused had taken and trying to find out the identity of the other accused.”

When asked about CCTV footage from the exam centre, police officials said they are yet to check it. Asked about the alleged love affair between Meet and an upper-caste girl, Zala said, “Yes, we do believe primarily that the incident took place over a girl so we are currently checking the victim’s phone for clues regarding the same.”

‘Meet was threatened to keep mum’

Jayesh Solanki, Meet’s maternal uncle said, “After abducting Meet, the accused thrashed him severely. They kept him there for nearly two-and-a-half hours after which they let him go, threatening him of dire consequences if he told anyone about it. He could not appear for the exam that day.” “This is the second misfortune to fall on the family.

In November last year, Meet’s father had met with an accident. He had to undergo treatment in Ahmedabad and is yet to completely recover from its effect,” Solanki added. Subodh Parmar, advocate and Dalit activist in Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch (RDAM), said, “Meet said that two of the accused thrashed him while three others kept a watch over the surroundings. However, he has named only two people in the FIR.”