Cow vigilantes wanted to burn us alive, claim Dalit men thrashed in Amreli

Amreli, Gujarat: In a shocking revelation, seven Dalit victims who suffered atrocities at the hands of cow vigilante group Gau Raksha Samiti in Amreli, Guajrat, have alleged that their attackers were planning to burn them alive in an 8-by-8 room.

According to reports, the seven men were rounded up by close to 30 members of the samiti, their hands and legs bound together, and thrashed with bats, iron rods and swords for two and a half hours on May 22.

"If that wasn't enough (the beating), some asked their accomplices to bring kerosene to burn us alive in the small room. I saw two persons leaving the room to get kerosene," recounts Ravi Zakhada, one of the seven victims.

Quick intervention by Ravi’s father, who informed other community members and the police at the nick of time, was what saved Ravi and his companions.

Ravi, who’s right hand was fractured in the incident, is still unable to walk properly because of the attack, while Dileep, another one of the seven men attacked, still wakes up in the middle of the night shouting "please don't hit us, please don't hit us!"

"We consider ourselves lucky as our family members came with cops in time," Ravi said.

When contacted, DSP (SC/ST cell) Rajula, D G Bharwad, said that he was not aware of any such claim.

Guajrat saw widespread protests by members of the Dalit community in protest of the brutal assault on fellow community members on July 11 for allegedly skinning a cow in Una in Gir-Somnath district.

A head constable with the local crime branch was killed in a stone pelting incidence, while several incidents of damage to state transport buses and road blockades were reported from different parts of Saurashtra region across Junagadh, Jamnagar, Rajkot and Amreli districts.