India: Dalit man stripped, thrashed in Karnataka

Vijayapura (Karnataka), July 20 (PTI) A Dalit man was stripped and thrashed by a group of people in this district in Karnataka for allegedly touching the motorbike of another community member, police said on Monday.

As a video of the incident went viral on social media, a counter-complaint was lodged, claiming he was assaulted for teasing two girls of Minajagi village, a police official said.

Two people had been arrested and further investigation was on into both complaints, District Superintendent of Police Anupam Agrawal said.

The video showed a group of people stripping the man and beating him up with sticks.

According to District Superintendent of Police Anupam Agrawal there were two versions of the incident that occurred on Saturday.

The man's father lodged a complaint claiming his son was beaten up for touching the bike of a man belonging to another community.

But, the attackers in their counter-complaint alleged the man teased two girls who went to fetch water from a tap near a pond and flashed his private parts to them, he said.

As the girls started shouting, two youths standing nearby chased and held him. Later they took him to the main road where others joined and beat him up.

A case had been registered against 13 people and two of them arrested, Agrawal said adding further investigations were on.