A 35-year-old Dalit man was beaten to death in front of his 10-year-old daughter on a national highway in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district, police said on Friday. Preliminary investigation suggests the murder was linked to a long-standing rivalry between two families.
The incident took place on Thursday evening near Ludhaura village under Kamlapur police station limits, when Manoj Gautam was returning home from a local market with his daughter.
A group of men intercepted and assaulted him, police said. His family took him to a community health centre in Kasmanda, where doctors declared him brought dead.
Superintendent of Police Ankur Agarwal said an FIR had been registered against six people, including two women, under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Four accused, including Shubham Singh, Dhirendra Singh and Narendra Singh, have been arrested, while four police teams have been formed to nab the remaining accused, he said.
Police said Gautam had earlier filed a case against the accused under the SC/ST Act. The two sides had also engaged in a verbal altercation on Wednesday.
(With inputs from PTI)