Police have lodged an FIR against four men for abetting the suicide of a 20-year-old Dalit youth in a village in Banaskantha by allegedly taunting him for riding a motorcycle. According to an FIR lodged at Dantiwada police station, the victim Vishnu Majirana, a resident of Hariyawada village in Dantiwada taluka, was found dead under mysterious circumstances on March 24 evening in a jungle area near his village. According to police, Majirana’s family members found his body hanging from a tree. Two days after his body was found, the victim's father Kanti Majirana submitted a complaint against four accused Mashrubhai Rabari, Satarabhai Rabari, Jesabhai Rabari, and Mukeshbhai Rabari, all residents of Hariyawada, for allegedly abetting the suicide of his son. According to Kanti, the four accused had questioned Vishnu over him riding a motorcycle in the village and also passed casteist comments. “On March 24 afternoon, my son Vishnu arrived home and told us that he had gone to a nearby shop in the village to purchase gutkha where the four accused were standing. The four accused asked him why he was riding a motorcycle and when he didn't reply to them, they started abusing him and passed casteist comments.” said Kanti Majirana in his complaint. “My son told me that he was extremely hurt over the incident. I tried to tell him that we all belong to the same village and he must not quarrel with these men. Listening to me, Vishnu left home all of a sudden. After a few hours, when he did not return, we started looking for him. Late evening, we found his body hanging,” the complaint further states. Taking cognisance, police have booked the four accused under Indian penal code sections 306 for abetting suicide, 294B for obscenity and 114 for abettor present when offence committed along with sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Speaking to The Indian Express, Kushal Oza, deputy superintendent of police, Banaskantha said, “The victim's family has alleged that a quarrel had broken out between the accused and deceased over a motorcycle. We are investigating the case from all angles. The four accused are absconding since the incident and efforts are on to nab them.”
