Thrashed for ‘wasting free food’, Amreli man dies three days later

However, the police claim to be in a bind over the matter stating that since Rathod died three days after the incident in which he suffered a fractured left hand, they had to wait for the cause of death before proceeding in the case. They added that an FIR for the alleged attack has been filed against four identified persons and three others for the attack and to add murder charge, they had to get the permission of the court. The postmortem report of Rathod is awaited, they pointed out.

The incident

Mahesh Rathod, who was working as a rector at Gyan Shakti School in Dhari, went home at Gopalgram village during the weekend. On April 17, he had taken his septuagenarian uncle, Amra Rathod, to Shantabaa General Hospital in Amreli town, which is about 32 km from their village. After admitting his uncle to the hospital, Mahesh Rathod went out to have lunch. He saw an organisation serving free food to families and caregivers behind the hospital building and sat to eat. According to the FIR filed on the basis of the complaint of Rathod, he could not finish the dal-rice. Feeling nauseous, he decided to throw the rest of the food. But, when Bharat Acharya, the ‘head of the organisation’, saw him “wasting food”, he allegedly asked Rathod to finish the food or pay a fine of Rs 50.

Family members protests at the hospital. (Express Photo)

According to the FIR, Rathod told Acharya that he would pay the fine. Rathod stated that he handed over a Rs 500 currency note to Acharya as he did not have any change. Acharya allegedly refused to return the balance amount and “asked Rathod about his caste and village”.

When Rathod told him that he was a Dalit, Acharya allegedly called three men from his group and asked them to thrash Rathod, the FIR said, quoting the complainant.

Rathod also claimed in the complaint that four persons beat him up with plastic pipes all over his body. Later, three other men also joined in thrashing him. His female cousins tried to intervene, but they allegedly continued to thrash Rathod, it said. It was only when his father Premji Duda Rathod and cousin Haresh Naran Rathod arrived that they stopped beating him. His family then admitted him to the trauma centre of the same hospital, the FIR said. Based on his complaint, the Amreli city police booked Bharat Acharya, Kalu, Heera Khuman, Chatur Dafda and three others under BNS sections for voluntarily causing grievous hurt, unlawful assembly and rioting, along with sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act and the Gujarat Police Act.

Since all the sections attract less than seven years’ punishment, as proscribed under the law, they were not placed under arrest and given notices to appear before the police, said DySP Chirag Desai of Amreli Division. He told The Indian Express that there is no CCTV footage of the alleged assault, but there were statements about the same from neutral witnesses. The Indian Express attempted to reach the hospital administration but they remained unavailable for comment.

Only demanding justice: Relative

Kishor Amra Rathod, a cousin of the deceased, whose father Amra Rathod was taken to the hospital by Mahesh, told The Indian Express that Mahesh was going to be discharged from the hospital on April 19. “But Mahesh said he was feeling dizzy and unwell, possibly due to being hit on the head and asked doctors to keep him at the hospital for one more day and that he would return home on April 20 along with my father Amrabhai, who was also to be discharged by then.”

On April 20, Mahesh Rathod collapsed on the floor when he came out of the hospital bathroom. Later, the duty doctor declared him dead, said DySP Desai. The family has demanded that the police book the accused on murder charges. Kishor said that they are “only demanding justice”.

The police sent the body to Sir Takhtasinhji Civil Hospital in Bhavnagar for a panel postmortem which was completed on April 21. The body is in the morgue there as the family has refused to accept it till “justice is served”.

The police, after representations of the family and Dalit activists, approached the local court to add the section for murder and corresponding section of the Atrocity Act to the FIR. The court will hear the matter on April 23. Amreli SP Sanjay Kharat said, “The FIR for has already been filed. We have approached the court for the addition of the section of murder. The court will take a call on the matter on April 23. We are yet to receive the postmortem report.”

SP Kharat added that since the FIR had already been registered, it required court permission to add more sections to it. Further probe is underway.