A 65-year-old tribal man was beaten brutally by Police in Madhya Pradesh‘s Dhar district as he went out to buy essential items violating the coronavirus lockdown. The family has stated to media that the old man was beaten to death by the police on Saturday, a charge denied by the force.
The son of the victim identified as Tigoo Adivasi, a resident of Mandleshwar in Khargone district, said his father went to Gujari village under Dhamnod police station in Dhar district, three to four kilometres away, to get some essential items of daily need on Saturday morning.
“The eyewitnesses present at the shop told me that my father was at a shop about 7 am when police personnel came in with three to four vehicles reached there and beat him up with big canes while accusing him of violating lockdown restrictions. He gave up on his life at the spot,” son Raju Adivasi said.
Aditya Pratap Singh, Dhar’s DSP, has admitted that a police team went to a village market to patrol but said the man didn’t die because of any action taken by police.
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“The sub-divisional officer of police (SDoP) and town inspector of police went to the vegetable market that was put up on the market, they reached there with their team to impose on the practice of social distancing on people,” Singh said.
“After the team reached there, people in grips of fear started moving away on seeing the police vehicles. While the police team was returning it got information that a man was lying unconscious. The police personnel took him to a hospital where he died,” he said.
Divya Patel, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of the region, said the tribal man’s family has been given immediate financial assistance of Rs 20,000.
