The victim, M Mallesh, was allegedly thrashed and 'electrocuted' by a village mob for apparently stealing electric wires from borewell motors.
Published Apr 04, 2023 | 3:35 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 04, 2023 | 3:36 PM
(on left) The victim M Mallesh. (Supplied)
The Sangareddy police arrested seven men for allegedly thrashing and electrocuting a 30-year-old Dalit man on Sunday, 26 March, in the Gummadidala village of the Patancheru Assembly constituency in Telangana.
However, the family of the victim — Madyala Mallesh — is seeking more arrests in the case.
“There were around 30-35 people who beat my brother. Why have the police arrested only seven of them? What about the rest of them? Of the seven arrested, only one is from the other caste (Reddy), while the rest are from Backward Classes (BCs). Why are the police not arresting other people from the OC group?” Mallesh’s brother Madyala Anjaiah asked South First.
Demanding justice for his brother, he sought severe punishment for the accused that would set an example for the rest of the villagers.
On 3 April, he submitted an application to the Telangana State Commission for SCs and STs urging necessary action.
Mallesh was a native of the same village and belonged to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community — Beda Budaga Jangam.
He was flogged to death for allegedly stealing electric wires connected to borewell motors in the agricultural farms of the village.
“My brother was also given electric shocks by some of the villagers. The accused did not inform the police and left him to die,” Anjaiah had told South First.
As per the First Information Report (FIR), accessed by South First, the whole incident took place on 26 March between 2 am and 7 am.
The Sangareddy police arrested seven people, identified as K Sudhakar (35), K Mallesh (33), Y Sanjeeva Reddy (60), K Mallesh (39), K Anjanelu (36), K Swamy (33), and M Veerappa (40).
All the accused belong to the Gummadidala village and have been booked under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 342 (wrongful confinement), as well as the Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
“After identifying the accused through videos recorded on the phone, we prepared a list of seven men. They have been arrested and sent to judicial custody,” DSP Patancheru Bheem Reddy told South First.
He, however, refuted the claim that more arrests were to happen in the coming days.
On 29 March, South First reported that the Sangareddy police had inquired about 20-30 people for verification on the basis of the video of the incident.
Sources told South First that a certain section of villagers was asking the family of the victim to withdraw the case.
“The villagers are constantly saying that they are our support system and will help us in future. For this, they are asking us to take the case back. However, our family has not been supported by the villagers so far. Instead, they are supporting the accused in police investigations and other things,” Anjaiah said.
As per sources, there are around 30 people from the Dalit community in the village, who are often ignored by other caste groups in the village.
Mandal president of the BSP’s Gummadidala wing, Ramesh, told South First that several independent human rights organisations visited the family and appealed to them not to withdraw the case under pressure.
