Telangana: No arrests even 3 days after a Dalit man was thrashed and ‘electrocuted’ by village mob

“We have been identifying the accused through videos recorded on the phone. The accused are farmers from the village. One man can be clearly seen beating the accused,” Gummadidala sub-inspector (SI) Vijay Krishna told South First.

He added that the list of the accused is expected to be finalised over the next few days.

“As far as I know, police have inquired about 20 to 30 people so far for verification on the basis of the video of incident. They all are upper caste villagers,” Mallesh’s brother Madyala Anjaiah told South First.

Read more: 9 ‘HYV’ members absconding after thrashing a Dalit man

‘Not just beaten, electrocuted too’

As per the First Information Report (FIR), accessed by South First, the whole incident took place on 26 March between 2 am and 7 pm.

According to the police, after Mallesh was beaten up by the villagers, he was taken to the Rythu Sangam office, where he was tied to a tree.

“A large number of villagers gathered; he was beaten to death by some of them. My brother was beaten with hands, sticks and cables initially,” Anjaiah said.

“He was also given electric shock by some of them. The villagers did not inform the police. By the time police came, my brother had died,” Anjaiah said.

About the charges of electrocution, SI Krishna said that they were yet to ascertain whether this was indeed the case, and are awaiting the post-mortem examination (PME) report.

Meanwhile, the cops added that the victim used to burn the wires, collect copper, sell it and consume liquor with the money he made.

Read more: Brother of man killed in broad daylight demands death penalty

Family demand legal action

The Gummadidala police has registered a case against unidentified villagers under IPC Section 302 (murder) and the Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

In the FIR lodged by the victim’s wife Meena Madyala, she stated that she was aware of her husband stealing cable wires and bore starters in the past too due to which she shifted to her parent’s home five months ago.

However, she demanded the strictest legal action against the culprits in the FIR.

“Is it justifiable to give electric shock after beating so much? He should have been handed over to the police. What kind of system is this? We demand a proper investigation at the DSP level,” Anjaiah said.

Mandal President of the BSP’s Gummadidala wing Ramesh told South First that cops are regularly coming to the village and inquiring about people.

The victim is survived by two daughters and a son.