A 17-year-old Dalit was stabbed in a Limbodara village near Gandhinagar late on Tuesday evening, allegedly for sporting moustache.
The unidentified assailants fled after the assault. Digant Maheria was taken to the Gandhinagar civil hospital and he underwent seven stitches on his back.
The boy’s family members said he was attacked earlier too, but they did not lodge a police complaint then.
A police official from Gandhinagar told The Hindu, “We have registered a case under the atrocity act. A senior police official has been asked to probe the case.”
This is the third such incident in the village. In the earlier incidents, two Dalits were attacked for sporting moustache. Two separate police cases were filed against members of the upper caste Kshatriya community.
“I don’t know why such attacks are happening in our village, which has always been very peaceful,” said village sarpanch Ranjitsinh Vaghela.
Protesters detained
On Wednesday, Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani and others were detained by the police when they tried to stage a protest opposite the secretariat in Gandhinagar.
“We organised a protest march to go to the secretariat and demand the resignation of the Home Minister for failing to protect Dalits. But the police detained us,” said a member of the group.
Youth killed, allegedly for watching 'garba' event
There was another horrific incident in central Gujarat. Jayesh (22) was killed, allegedly for watching a ''garba'' ( a form of dance) event on Dussehra.
The police have arrested eight suspects.
