Coronavirus pandemic | 3 arrested for attacking Dalit family in Haryana for 'disobeying' PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lit a lamp after turning off all the lights at his residence. (Image: Twitter/@narendramodi)

Three men hailing from Haryana’s Pingore village in Palwal have been arrested for attacking a Dalit family with bricks and iron rods on April 5. The assailants had barged into their house after they switched on the lights in their house well past 9.09 pm – which was the deadline set by Prime minister Narendra Modi for the “nine minutes at 9 pm” event.

The Prime Minister had appealed to all Indians to switch off their lights at 9 pm for nine minutes and light lamps and candles as a symbolic gesture of the country’s fight against the novel coronavirus. The Dalit family claims they had abided by the appeal and only switched on their lights after those nine minutes had passed, reported the Indian Express. Yet, some men barged into their homes and hurled abuses at them, while forcing them to switch off the lights again.

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Dhanpal – the victim – who was at home with six other family members when the incident took place at 9.30 pm on April 5, claimed the accused were members of the Gujjar community. He alleged that the men even beat them with sticks, bricks and iron rods, before ravaging and looting their home.

He added that the glass doors and windows of his house were shattered, and his two cars were heavily damaged as well. The accused allegedly threatened him with worse consequences if he approached the police.

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Inspector Jitendra Kumar, Station House Officer, Sadar Palwal police station, said: “An FIR was registered regarding the matter on Tuesday, under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 34 (common intention), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees or upwards), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.”

The three arrested men have been identified as Sachin, Ankit and Pawan and are currently in judicial custody; the other accused are still at large.

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