Police said that the incident took place when an angry confrontation between Dhulichand and a group of men over a stolen water pump turned violent

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The Dalit community has been at the receiving end of atrocities for a very long time now. Incidents of violence against the Dalit community rose 35% in the four years since 2014. With Rajasthan topping the chart for hate crimes against Dalits, in yet another incident of caste-driven rage, the brutal murder of a 40-year-old man, Dhulichand, has now come to light. Accused of stealing a water pump in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district, Dhulichand Meena was confronted by a 60-year-old man and his two sons where they thrashed him for stealing a water pump from their fields. He died from the brutal assault. According to the station house officer (SHO), Nainuram Meena, the incident took place in the Ghatoli area on Saturday morning.

The SHO also reported that on his way to another village, Dhulichand was stopped by Purilal Tanwar and his two sons Devi Singh (23) and Mohan (20) along with other men. Here the confrontation over the stolen water pump took a violent turn and Dhulichand was beaten up. Dhulichand’s father rushed to the spot and took his injured son home after being informed about the incident. Dhulichand’s condition however later deteriorated. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, the SHO said.

Prelimnary investigations have revealed that the Tanwar and his sons complained about the theft to Dhulichand’s father on Friday, who then rebuked his son for the act and asked Tanwar to lodge a police complaint against him.

Dhulichand’s body was handed over to his family after a post-mortem and a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act) has been registered against Tanwar, both his sons and seven unidentified men, the SHO said.