The incident occurred under Mandamarri Police Station limits where two people, Kiran and Teja, were beaten up by members of a family.
All four people accused of hanging two men upside down from a tree and lighting a fire under them, besides abusing them, have been nabbed, said the Bellampalli Police under the Ramagundam commissionerate of Telangana on Sunday, 3 September.
The incident occurred under the Mandamarri Police Station limits on 2 September, where two people — Kiran, belonging to a Scheduled Caste, and Teja — were allegedly beaten up by four members of a family, who accused them of goat theft.
As one of the victims, Kiran, belongs to a Dalit community, the police registered cases under Sections 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) and 307 (attempt to murder), read with section 34 (acts done by several persons with common intention) of the IPC, along with Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Ramagundam Commissioner of Police Rema Rajeshwari told South First: “The SC/ ST case has been registered because we have heard the accused using caste-based slurs against the victim. The law and order machinery, including the police, would take action if there exists a theft case and nobody else has the right to take the law into their hands.”
The FIR, accessed by South First, revealed that on Saturday, Nitturi Sarita of Yapal Village filed a complaint at the Mandamarri Police Station that her elder sister’s son Kiran was hung upside down and a fire was set under him in an attempt to kill him.
She complained about Ramulu, his wife Swaroopa, their son Srinivas, and Naresh, who worked for them in a goatshed.
The accused apparently suspected that Kiran and Teja might have stolen a goat from their shed in Ganganeellapampula on the outskirts of Bellampalli town.
The accused allegedly picked up Kiran from his workplace. They threatened to kill him by hanging him upside down, seeking to know where Kiran hid the stolen goat, according to the complaint.
Kiran’s employer Sravan rushed to the spot, rescued him, and took him to his home.
The FIR mentioned nothing about the second person, even though the videos of the incident, which went viral later, showed two people being tortured, and the police acknowledged that two men were assaulted.
“Kiran and Teja work as daily wage labourers in local areas. There were suspicions that both of them stole goats from upper-caste people,” said Rajeshwari.
“The accused allegedly abused the victims because they suspected that they stole their goats, and wanted to find them,” said Rajeshwari.
According to the police, a “missing person” case was registered as both the victims left the village after the assault.
Teja, one of the victims, was traced and handed over to the family. Meanwhile, there were reports that Kiran was staying at a relative’s house. A police team is working on tracing him.
Rajeshwari said that the police also came across information that many people were present at the location, but were recording the ongoing on their mobile phones instead of helping the victims.
“We are in the process of identifying them, and we will initiate legal action against them for being mute spectators,” she said.
“We also observe Civil Rights Day in the villages under the Ramagundam Police Commissionerate on the 30th of every month — in view of the ongoing attacks on Dalits — to sensitise people about caste discrimination and laws,” she added.
“Violating the rights of others, exhibiting caste discrimination, and committing attacks is a crime under the law, and strict legal action will be taken against anyone who has committed, assisted or encouraged such incidents,” she said.
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