A Dalit man alongwith his family from Vijayapura district in Karnataka were beaten up for allegedly touching an upper caste man’s motorbike.
The incident was reported by NDTV is said to have happened on Saturday and it started trending on social media as the video of the incident became viral.
A police complaint has been filed against 13 people under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
According to NDTV reports, Police officer Anupan Aggarwal said, “An atrocity case was reported in Talikoti yesterday [Saturday] about assault on the Dalit man from Minaji village.”
“It was alleged that when he accidentally touched the bike of a man who belonged to the upper caste that he and his family members were assaulted by some 13 men,” he added.
In the video, the Dalit man was held by a crowd, while others were beating him.
The video came at a time when physical distancing norms are in place to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the attackers were not wearing masks and violating guidelines. Karnataka is the fourth worst-hit state in the country by the pandemic. As of Monday, the state’s total caseload is 63,772, including more than 1,300 deaths.
