Nilesh Rathod (28) was at the Bhajiya stall in the Jarakhiya village of Amreli to buy some snacks. He called the shopkeeper’s son, ‘beta’, and asked him if the boy needed help in reaching the wafer packets hanging high from a hook. Following this, the shopkeeper, Chotha Khoda Bharwad, tried to hit Rathod with an iron ladle for calling his son ‘beta’.
According to an FIR filed by Lalji Mansukh Chauhan, Rathode returned and informed Chauhan about the incident. Chauhan went to the shop to look into the matter. However, the shopkeeper beat him with a stick as well. Another man joined the shopkeeper and began thrashing Chauhan and Rathod. The FIR says that the stall owner arrived on the spot and saved them from getting lynched.
Later, Rathod’s uncle went to the shop to question about the incident, where he, along with Rathod, was attacked by sticks and sickles by 13 others whom the shopkeeper had already called up. Together, they attacked Rathod, his uncle, Chauhan, and one another with sharp weapons.
“They thrashed and uttered casteist slurs,” the FIR mentions. The assailants were taunting them for trying to assert their dignity and refusing to conform to the expectations of the upper caste for the lower caste, and “to know their place.” They also complained about the alleged “overreach” despite being from a lower caste.
Rathode succumbed to injuries six days after the attack happened. The family refuses to receive the body if their demands are not accepted. MLA Jignesh Mevani joined the family in protesting against the atrocity and to accept the family’s needs. He also demanded that all the accused be arrested. The Kin of the deceased demanded that a government job or 4 acres of land be given to each of the four victims.
The Amreli Police has filed FIR against nine of them over 10 sections under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) including sections 118(1) (grievous hurt), 189(2) (unlawful assembly), 189(4) (unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapons), 190 (liability of all members of unlawful assembly), 191(3) (rioting while armed with deadly weapons), 131 (assault or criminal force), 352 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) and 3(5) (joint liability of a criminal act). Additionally, they were also booked under various sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as well as section 135 of the Gujarat Police Act.
After Rathod was admitted for treatment at Bhavnagar Civil Hospital, the police added BNS section 109 (attempt to murder), and later, section 103 (murder) as well.
