ISLAMABAD: Six men who allegedly identified themselves as members of Bajrang Dal and cow protectors were booked in India’s Maharashtra state for reportedly assaulting a Dalit truck driver and forcing him to eat cattle dung after accusing him of trying to sell a bull in Jalna district, Indian media reported.
No arrests had been made as of Saturday, while an investigation was underway, according to The Hindu.
Bajrang Dal is a Hindu nationalist organization that has been associated with campaigns to protect cows, which are regarded as sacred by many Hindus in India.
Dalits, formerly referred to as “untouchables,” are communities that have historically faced discrimination and exclusion under India’s caste system. India’s Constitution prohibits caste-based discrimination, while the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act provides specific legal protections against atrocities targeting members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The alleged assault took place on May 23, but the victim, Parameshwar Suhas Hiwale, filed a police complaint on Thursday after a video purportedly showing the incident circulated online, according to The Hindu.
Hiwale told police that he had been returning to Jalna with his 11-year-old son and an acquaintance, Narayan Maroti Kamble, after Kamble had hired him to transport a bull that Kamble had purchased at a weekly cattle market in Deulgaon Raja. According to Hiwale’s complaint, a group of men identifying themselves as members of Bajrang Dal and cow protectors had followed the vehicle on motorcycles and stopped it in the Kanhaiyanagar area of Jalna.
Hiwale told police that one of the men had grabbed him by his shirt collar and questioned him about the contents of the vehicle, as reported by The Print. He said he had shown documents indicating that Kamble had legally purchased the bull, but the men had allegedly slapped him and questioned him about his name and caste before directing caste-based insults at him.
One of the accused had taken cattle dung from the vehicle and handed it to another man, who had allegedly forced it into Hiwale’s mouth. The men had also allegedly attempted to force the dung into his son’s mouth, but Hiwale had intervened.
The man alleged that the accused had threatened to strip him and his son naked and leave them on the road. He also alleged that the men had assaulted Kamble and damaged the vehicle.
Hiwale told police that the men had threatened to kill him and his family if he reported the incident. According to his complaint, they had also accused him of planning to sell the bull to a Muslim butcher.
Police registered a case at Taluka police station under Sections 126(2), relating to wrongful restraint; 115(2), relating to voluntarily causing physical hurt to another person; and 189(2), relating to unlawful assembly, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as reported by The Hindu.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita is India’s principal criminal code and replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code in 2024.
Police Inspector Santosh Sable identified the six accused as Venkatesh Bhagat, Arjun Singh, Shivraj Picchade, Somesh Patil, Yash Sarkate and Ritesh Deshmukh, according to The Print. The inspector said the investigation is ongoing and that none of the accused have been arrested.
The Print reported that the district's Deputy Superintendent of Police Anant Kulkarni said police responding to the May 23 incident had found Hiwale allegedly transporting three cows and two other cattle in closed trailers attached to the pickup truck. He said police had seized the vehicle and animals and had registered a separate case under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
India’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, provides the legal framework for preventing unnecessary pain or suffering to animals, as per its constitution. Rules governing cattle transport and state-level restrictions on cattle slaughter and related activities also apply in different parts of India.
The allegations against the six men had not been independently established in court.