4 VBA Dalit activists stripped, assaulted in Maha on suspicion of goat, pigeons theft; 6 booked

Four Dalit activists of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) were allegedly stripped, urinated upon, hung from a tree and brutally assaulted on rumours of stealing goats and pigeons in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar, police said on Sunday.

According to police and VBA local workers, the activists were hung upside down from a tree and then repeatedly assaulted with sticks by six persons for allegedly stealing a goat and pigeons of a local farmer.

The incident was reported from Haregaon in Shrirampur in the district.

Taking serious note of the incident, VBA President Prakash Ambedkar called up his party workers and spoke to one of the victims and his family.

"The victims in the caste atrocity case are shaken and pleading for justice. I spoke to one of them and his grandmother, and the VBA and I will do everything to ensure justice," he said.

VBA Vice President Siddharth Mokle said that Ambedkar will visit the families of the four youngsters - all in their 20s - next week and has assured them all help in the matter.

Police said that the incident occurred on Thursday and one of the accused even shot a video of the incident which later went viral on social media.

In a statement, the VBA said that the assailants allegedly urinated and spat on the victims, stripped them, forced them to lick the spittle, hung them upside down from a tree and then severely beat them up.

So far, the police have detained one person while five others are still at large and the police have formed teams to track them. They have been identified as: Deepak Gaikwad, Raju Borge, Yuvaraj Galande, Durgesh Vaidya and Manoj Borake.

The injured youth were taken to a local hospital and later one of them, Shubham Mogade filed the police complaint on Saturday. The police have registered a FIR invoking sections pertaining to abduction, attempt to murder and atrocities on SC/STs against the accused, and further probe is underway.