Coronavirus | Family attacked in Haryana’s Palwal for allegedly not adhering to PM’s lights-out call

35 people, belonging to the Gujjar community, allegedly barged into the house of a family belonging to a scheduled caste and attacked eight members.

Google Maps image locates Pingore village in Haryana’s Palwal district.

Eight members of a family belonging to a scheduled caste, including two women, were injured in an alleged attack by upper caste men in Palwal’s Pingore village this Sunday, following an altercation over not switching off lights in response to

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call .

A case was registered and as many as 31 people have been named in the FIR. No arrests have been made so far.

Dhanpal, the complainant, alleged that around 35 people from the village, belonging to the Gujjar community, barged into his house at 9.30 p.m. on Sunday, used casteist slurs and told them to keep their house lights switched off for the whole night. He said the accused, armed with sticks, iron rods and bricks, beat them up and vandalised the house. They also threatened them with dire consequences in case the matter was reported to the police.

The complainant said that the

call for lights-out was only for nine minutes starting at 9 p.m. and they had duly switched off their lights, but the accused still attacked them. Besides Dhanpal, his son and daughter, five more members of the family sustained injuries in the attack.

Jitender Kumar, Station House Officer, Sadar, said that the children of the two families sparred over switching off the lights in response to the PM’s call and the matter escalated. The two parties threw stones at each other and a vehicle was also damaged.

The police officer said that the accused were on the run. “The village Sarpanch and other prominent villagers have been directed to produce the accused before the police by 5 p.m. today (on Wednesday). The matter is being investigated by a Deputy Superintendent of Police-level officer,” said Mr. Kumar.

A case has been registered on charges of causing hurt and criminal intimidation under Indian Penal Code, among others.