Vijayawada: Seven people have been arrested for allegedly beating up two Dalits in East Godavari district after they skinned a cow which had died due to electrocution.
Four accused are still absconding in the case.
The incident took place at Janakipeta in Amalapuram town of the district in Andhra Pradesh.
The Amalapuram issue was raised in Rajya Sabha as well. Bahujan Samaj Party MP Satish Chandra Mishra targeted the government asking what happened to the Prime Minister's commitment on protecting Dalits.
According to police, after the cow died following electrocution, its owner, a farmer, engaged the two Dalits, who were brothers, for skinning the animal before it was buried on Monday night.
On getting to know of the skinning, the "gau rakshaks" (cow vigilantes) went to the place and beat up the duo, identified as Mokati Elisha and Lazer, suspecting that they had killed the animal.
The two were admitted to a hospital in Amalapuram for treatment and Elisha's condition was said to be serious.
The incident has taken place when the flogging of a Dalit family at Una in Gujarat in July created a countrywide uproar over cow vigilantism.
Three days back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his first public denouncement of cow vigilantes, had said that he felt enraged at such "anti-social elements", who indulged in crimes by the night and masqueraded as cow protectors by the day.
A day later in Telangana, Modi had asked people to beware of "fake" cow protectors as they were trying to create "tension and conflict" in the society and said that "if you have to attack, attack me" but stop attacking "my Dalit bretheren".
(With inputs from PTI)
Comments
0 comment