Dalit man visits pregnant wife, hacked to death by upper caste in-laws

Ahmedabad: A 25-year-old Dalit man was allegedly killed by relatives of his wife who belonged to an upper caste community at her village in Ahmedabad district of Gujarat, police said Tuesday.

The incident occurred Monday night when the victim, Haresh Solanki, had gone to Varmor village in Mandal taluka to persuade his in-laws to send back his wife, Urmilaben, who is two-month pregnant, to him.

Urmilaben belonged to the upper-caste Darbar community.

Solanki had married Urmilaben a few months ago against the wishes of her parents and had taken her to Gandhidham in Kutch district, where he lived with his parents, said Deputy Superintendent of Police (SC/ST Cell) P D Manvar.

“However, relatives of Urmilaben brought her back, saying she will be sent back to Solanki after a few weeks. But when they refused to send her back for around two months, Solanki decided to visit her parents and convince them to send her back to him,” he said.

On Monday, Solanki sought the help of ‘Abhayam 181’, a women helpline service, and boarded the helpline vehicle for Varmor village.

“While Solanki remained inside the vehicle, officials of the helpline service went to the house of his in-laws and tried to persuade them to send back Urmilaben,” the Deputy SP said.

When Urmilaben’s relatives came to know that Solanki was accompanying the officials, they rushed out of their house and attacked him with sharp and blunt objects.

“Solanki sustained injuries to his head and other parts of the body in the attack and died,” the police officer said.

He said the ‘Abhayam’ vehicle was damaged in the attack while the officials accompanying it managed to escape.

An FIR has been registered against eight persons, including Solanki’s in-laws, under sections 302 (Punishment for murder), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 147 (Punishment for rioting) and under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The accused have fled their house after the incident and efforts are on to nab them, he said.