AHMEDABAD: A Dalit youth was brutally thrashed, robbed, and threatened with death in Gujarat’s Junagadh marking the third caste atrocity in just 21 days. The chilling attack, captured in a viral video, has once again exposed how caste violence remains deeply entrenched in society despite decades of independence.
Even after 78 years of independence, caste violence refuses to die down.
The incident unfolded on the afternoon of August 16, when the victim had gone to meet a friend. A boy ran up to him, pleading for help as his brother was being taken away. The Dalit youth and his friend followed him to the Swami Vivekanand School ground, only to find out that he had walked into a trap.
There, three Upper Caste youths confronted him, asking about his background. When he replied that he was from Kadiawad, the attackers led by one Hitesh and two unidentified accomplices began to abuse him with casteist slurs, and thrashed him with belts and sticks until injury marks covered his body.
The assailants then snatched the victim’s mobile phone and threatened to kill him if he dared complain to the police.
“They beat me up with a belt and a stick, robbed my phone, and threatened my life. Today it’s me, tomorrow it could be someone else. I only demand justice,” the victim said from Junagadh Civil Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment.
Police have since registered a case under multiple sections of the IPC at Junagadh A Division Police Station. Separate teams have been formed to nab the accused. DySP Hitesh Dhandhaliya assured that “strict legal action will be taken at the earliest.”
The Junagadh assault is not an isolated act of cruelty. It is the third atrocity against Dalits in Gujarat within the last 21 days, a chilling reminder that caste prejudice continues to fuel violence even today.
Each incident is another crack in the promise of equality, and another urgent call for justice.