Village chief beats Dalit man with shoes in Uttar Pradesh

Two men, belonging to the upper caste, have been arrested for thrashing a Dalit man with their shoes.

One of the alleged accused is the head of the village.

The incident had taken place around a fortnight ago at Reta Nagla village in Chappar region, but the police swung into action only after a video clip of the incident went viral on social media.

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According to reports, Dinesh Kumar, 41, a Dalit labourer, had allegedly made some comments about the village pradhan, Shakti Mohan Singh, which seemed to have 'offended' the latter.

To resolve the matter, Gaje Singh, a former pradhan of an adjacent village, Reta Nagla, called the two to his home.

During the meeting, Shakti Mohan allegedly lost his temper and attacked Dinesh with his shoes. Gaje joined him soon in beating the man.

After a video of the incident, shot on a mobile phone, started doing the rounds on social media, the Muzaffarnagar police took suo-motu cognisance and filed an FIR at the Chhapar police station.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Vineet Jaiswal said on Sunday, "We have taken the accused into custody. They have been booked under various sections of the IPC as well as the SC/ST Act."