Mulbagal: Nangali police arrested four people of Petandlahalli village near Byrakur in the taluk on Saturday, for harassment of a Dalit youth who committed suicide in Bevahalli village of the taluk.
The police sources said that Raju, Shivaraj, Gopalakrishnappa and Munivenkatappa were arrested in relation to the case.
Uday Kiran, who belonged to a Dalit community, is learned to have committed suicide after being assaulted by the arrested men, who are from upper castes, for apparently a trivial reason.
Nangali police had filed a case against the four arrested men under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, said sources.
District Superintendent D Devaraj has said, “The four accused, who had been absconding, were held on Saturday. The investigation in the matter will be intensified.”
On November 30, Uday and his friend, who were on a two-wheeler, overtook Raju and Gopalakrishnappa, who were apparently upset by this. The arrested men are said to have stopped and verbally assaulted Uday on the spot. Later, when Uday and his friend were returning from Kadenahalli, the four men stopped the duo near Petlandahalli and thrashed Uday, before taking away his bike and mobile phone, sources said.
When Uday approached the arrested men later to collect his two-wheeler and mobile phone, the four men are learned to have tied him to a tree at Racchekatte of Petlandahalli, thrashed and verbally abused him on caste basis too.
The complainants told the Nangali police that Uday, unable to take the insult, committed suicide.

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Khargone (MP) (PTI): The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes on Friday confirmed that a young woman from Madhya Pradesh who became famous due to her viral videos during the 2025 Maha Kumbh has been found to be a minor after an inquiry.
Citing the findings of an inquiry panel set up by the commission, local BJP leaders alleged that her interfaith marriage in Kerala last month was a case of "love Jihad", and sought legal action.
While the panel had submitted its report in March, ST commission chairman Antar Singh Arya confirmed its findings to the PTI on Friday.
A case for alleged kidnapping and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has already been registered against her husband, a Muslim man, at Maheshwar on the basis of the inquiry findings, police said.
The girl gained national fame after her videos while selling garlands and rudraksha at the Maha Kumbh went viral on social media and also earned her a role in a film.
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes set up an inquiry panel after receiving a complaint on March 17 from Pratham Dubey, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, that she was a minor and was being exploited.
Maheshwar BJP MLA Rajkumar Mev and BJP mandal president Vikram Patel, armed with documents, told reporters on Friday that her marriage in Kerala was a case of "love Jihad" and she should be brought back home.
'Love jihad' is a term used by right-wing groups to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into marriage to convert them to Islam.
Police said an investigation is underway, and further action would be taken accordingly.
The girl, who belongs to the nomadic Pardhi community, got married at a temple in Kerala in March. The interfaith marriage drew angry reactions from rightwing Hindu groups.
Her family members and film director Sanoj Mishra -- who had offered her a film role after she became famous -- too alleged that it was 'love Jihad'.
As per the inquiry conducted by the ST commission, records at the Maheshwar government hospital showed the woman's date of birth as December 30, 2009 which meant she was 16 years and two months old at the time of marriage, said Dubey, the complainant.
On a complaint filed by her father, police registered a case against the girl's husband at Maheshwar police station on March 25 for alleged kidnapping and under the POCSO Act and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Police sources said that a separate case was also registered on March 24 under section 137(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (taking a minor from lawful custody of guardian without their consent) based on the the commission's findings.
