Assaulted for dressing ‘like upper castes’, Dalit youth dies by suicide in Gujarat’s Banaskantha
Banaskantha: A 19-year-old Dalit youth, Mahendra Kalabhai Parmar, allegedly died by suicide after facing assault and humiliation from five upper-caste men in Vasarda village of Banaskantha district in Gujarat for "wearing clothes similar to theirs."
He went missing on July 10, and his body was recovered two days later from a village well on July 12, as reported by Deccan herald on Tuesday.
According to the FIR filed by Mahendra’s uncle, Bijalbhai Parmar, the youth was allegedly beaten and insulted near the village panchayat office by five men named in the FIR as Khetabhai Rabari, Sendhabhai Rabari, Rudabhai Rabari, Amrabhai Rabari, and Lakhabhai Rabari.
The complaint alleges that the accused objected to Mahendra wearing clothes typically worn by members of their community. His family believes the caste-based humiliation pushed him to take his life.
The Rabaris, largely a pastoral community, are classified as Other Backward Caste.
Police have filed a case against the five accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
