'Nails hammered into his legs': Dalit student ‘tortured to death’ over friendship with upper caste girl in Uttarakhand

DEHRADUN: An 18-year-old Dalit student died after he was allegedly held captive and assaulted through the night by family members of a minor upper-caste girl in Tehri Garhwal district, with his father alleging that nails were hammered into his son’s legs during the attack. Police arrested the girl’s father, Yashbir Singh Panwar, and grandfather, Vidyadutt Panwar, and registered a case of murder under BNS (BNS) and relevant sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Ketan Lal, a Class 12 student, had been friends with the girl for the past six months, police said. The incident took place in Lambgaon area on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, and came to light after Ketan’s father informed police that his son had been attacked. An FIR was registered against Yashbir and unidentified others under BNS sections 103(1) (murder), 3(5) (common intention), and section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST Act.

Ketan’s father, a farmer, said Yashbir called him Monday morning and asked in a threatening tone where his son was. “I went to his room and found him missing. When I said he was not there, Yashbir told me he had killed him and his friend, and that I should come and take the bodies from a rivulet,” he said. He added that he immediately alerted the father of Ketan’s friend, Diwakar, before rushing to Yashbir’s village, where both boys were found with multiple injuries.

Ketan was taken to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries. His father said his son narrated the assault on the way. “My son told me the girl had called him on Sunday night and asked him to meet her at home. He took his friend Diwakar along, but as soon as they reached there, the girl’s family members, including her father and grandfather, caught them and took them to a room. They beat them through the night. They hammered nails into the legs of my son,” he said, alleging that casteist slurs were also hurled during the assault.

Diwakar, who sustained serious injuries to his head and body, remained under treatment. On Tuesday, a panel of doctors at Tehri Garhwal district hospital conducted Ketan’s post-mortem, and police said they were awaiting the report to ascertain the exact nature and extent of injuries.

Dinesh Shah, former head of Ketan’s village, said the accused had no right to take the law into their own hands. “If the boys were at fault, the girl’s family should have informed their families or police. Who gave them the right to torture a boy to death?” he said, demanding strict action against all those involved.

Tehri Garhwal SSP Shweta Chaubey said the girl’s family was unhappy with her friendship with Ketan. “Her father had earlier met the boy’s father and asked him not to allow his son to talk to his daughter. On Sunday night, he and his acquaintances committed the crime. Police took swift action as soon as they came to know about it on Monday. We have arrested the girl’s father Yashbir and her grandfather Vidyadutt Panwar. As far as the gravity of injuries is concerned, we are waiting for the post-mortem report,” Chaubey said.