A 90-year old man was attacked with an axe and then burnt alive, when he tried to enter a temple in Hamirpur district in Uttar Pradesh.
The victim was stopped at the entrance of Maidani Baba temple by a man, but he persisted, he was hit with an axe, doused with kerosene and set on fire in front of the other worshippers.
According to reports, no one stepped forward to help the Dalit family even as they screamed for help.
Some youths from the village later nabbed the man and handed him to the police.
The police has filed an FIR against the accused and two other people, who are said to be on the run.
This incident adds to the troubled history of Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, which includes horrific incidents that took place just this year. For instance, in June, a Dalit girl was thrashed and threatened with murder by women all because her shadow fell on an upper caste man.
According to the complaint lodged by her father, the girl was fetching water from a hand pump in Ganeshpura village, when her shadow ‘touched’ an upper caste man passing by the pump. The women in the man’s family then attacked her.
(With inputs from Agencies)