A man died after being allegedly beaten up by some people in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh over accusations that he was trying to sell his teenage daughter, police said on Tuesday.
Sarvesh Kumar Diwakar (45), who was a Dalit, was attacked with sticks and rods on Sunday. He was admitted to a hospital, where he died during treatment on Monday, they said, adding that four people involved in the incident have been detained.
Opposition Samajwadi Party and the BSP targeted the ruling BJP over the incident and called for justice to the victim's family.
"On September 6, on receiving information about a fight, a police team reached the spot and sent one person, Sarvesh Kumar (45), to the district hospital. He died during treatment on September 7. A video related to the incident has been received and police have taken cognisance of the same. Of the five involved in the beating, four have been detained, and search is on for the fifth person. Strict action will be taken against all," Mainpuri Police said on its Twitter handle.
The Samajwadi Party announced Rs one lakh aid to the victim's family. "Lynching of Dalit Sarvesh Diwakar in Mainpuri by goons of Bajrang Dal under patronage of the government is unfortunate. Condolences to his family. SP will give Rs 1 lakh to the victim's family. Government should provide Rs 10 lakh to the family," the party said.
Targeting the state government, BSP supremo Mayawati cited other similar incidents that had happened in the state recently. "Dalit Sarvesh was beaten to death in Mainpuri. Similar incidents of killing of Govind Chauhan in Maharajganj, Rajveer Maura in Shahjahanpur, Wasid in Bareilly, Sudhir Singh in Kushinagar and Vinod Garg in Banda are saddening," she said in a tweet in Hindi.
"Similarly, cab driver's murder in Noida and other incidents expose tall claims of the government on law and order in the state. The government should provide justice to the victim's famliy and give them financial help," she added in another tweet.
It has been learnt that Sarvesh Diwakar, who used to run a food stall, was in financial trouble due to the lockdown and had decided to send his 16-year-old daughter to a relative's place in Noida.
However, after a rumour spread that he was selling her, he was beaten up by a group of people. The act was caught on video, which surfaced on social media.
Earlier, in Kushinagar on Monday, an angry mob thrashed a murder accused to death at a village allegedly in the presence of police which had arrived there after he shot dead a school teacher.
A video clip on social media showed policemen present at the scene in riot gear but unable to stop people from raining lathi blows on the man lying on the ground.
The incident took place at Rampur Bangra village of the Taryasujan area around 8 am, after Aryaman Yadav killed the teacher, Sudhir Kumar Singh (28), a resident of Rampur Bangra village under Taryasujan police station limit in Kushinagar district.
Following the incident, the SHO of Taryasujan police station, under whose jurisdiction the double murder took place, was suspended, and a probe was ordered against the erring policemen, an official said.