Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Boy dragged behind horse; youth dragged to death by tractor

Jalandhar (Punjab, India), SVM News, September 5, 2007: A 10-year-old boy was dragged on a road after being tied behind a horse at village Raowali in Jalandhar District of Punjab state in India.

Etwari Lal was the boy who chased the animal away, following which the owners of the horse tied the boy to the animalThe incident took place on September 3, when the boy, along with his parents, was guarding the field of his landlord and a horse belonging to a member of the influential local Gujjar community.

The ordeal ended only when Etwari cried in pain with severe injuries and his parents raised an alarm.

Etawari Lal said the "horse was grazing and I went to stop it. Some boys from the Gujjar community came and beat me up. They tied me to the horse and dragged me more than a mile."

The injured boy was taken to a hospital and a complaint was lodged with the police.

On Monday, parents of Etwari had alleged that the boy was tied and dragged by horse owed by the members of Gujjar community.

The horse owner told that he got injured accidentally when his leg got entangled with the rope he was holding.

"When the investigation was progressed, parents of the boy approached me for withdrawal of their complaint, most probably after striking a compromise," SHO Sakkatar Singh said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.

The parents of the boy is now telling the same statement which the horse owner has said. They do not want anybody to blame for it.

Sarabjit Singh, the Senior Superintendent of Police of Jalandhar said, "We took action the very day the incident was reported. The SHO himself is looking into the case and we have not been informed of any threats that the family is facing."

In a similar incident, a petty thief named Aurangzeb alias Salim was mercilessly beaten by a crowd, tied to a policeman's motorcycle and dragged after being accused of stealing a gold chain in Nathnagar town of Bhagalpur district in Bihar State on August 26 (news story: http://salemvoice.org/svmnews234.html).

In another incident, a 24-year-old man named Ramesh Patel was chained to a tractor, dragged and murdered in Palanpur district of Gujarat state on August 27. A whole village watched yet no one uttered a word.

Ramesh had eloped with a neighbourhood girl he was in love with, but the girl's family tracked them down.

"A group of around 12 people from the family of that girl whom my son used to love had forcibly entered at my home breaking two doors with sharp weapons and took him by chaining him with a tractor, dragged and killed," Sarabhai Patel, Victim's father said to the SVM news.

Police arrested four persons on Wednesday, August 29 in connection with Ramesh's death.

Orginal News (with pictures):
http://salemvoice.org/svmnews243.html

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