Gujarat Dalit thrashing case: Rahul Gandhi meets families of deceased

New Delhi: The Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday met the families of victims of Una violence, who lost their lives due to brutal thrashing.

Gandhi was yesterday slammed after he was seen taking a nap in the parliament when the issue of atrocities against Dalit youth in Gujarat was raised. Post the incident, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati slammed him and said, “It shows Gandhi’s lackadaisical attitude towards such a sensitive matter”.

After the heart-wrenching incident, a bandh was called by Dalit organisations to protest the incident in Una town, which got a mixed response on Wednesday. Several incidents of stone-pelting and road blockade were reported at some places, even as Chief Minister Anandiben Patel met family members of the victims.

Some parts of Saurashtra and north Gujarat regions observed total bandh where sporadic incidents of stone-pelting and road blockade were witnessed.

The bandh has been largely peaceful so far, police said, adding that it had no effect in other parts of the state.

The Dalit community members continued their protest across the state against the brutal assault on some community members on July 11 for allegedly skinning a cow at Una in Gir-Somnath district. Police has been deployed as standby in many areas of the state.

The bandh was largely observed in Amreli and Junagadh cities of Saurashtra region, including some other small towns like Dhoraji and Dhrol with some incidents of damaging buses and stone-pelting reported during protest.

The protest call crippled life in Junagadh and Amreli as schools, colleges and business establishment observed total bandh. Some protesters damaged a state transport bus at a depot in Junagadh, police said.

Rajkot also witnessed street protests during the bandh following which around 50 people were detained by police. However, the bandh call was not followed in the town and the situation was normal.

In Patan, a group of protesters pelted stones at a movie theatre, forcing its closure. They also forced road blockade in the town, police said.