An agricultural labourer, belonging to a Scheduled Caste, was assaulted by six people including two forest guards after being tied to a tree near Hullemane in Sakleshpur taluk.
The incident came to light after the victim filed a complaint with Sakleshpur Rural Police on Wednesday. The police have registered the case under the SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, among others.
Murthy, the victim, was allegedly assaulted by Gangaraju Gowda, Some Gowda, Swamy, Lokesh Gowda, all residents of Hullemane, and two forest guards, whose names not shown in the complaint.
He told media that the accused stopped him while he was returning home after getting down from a private bus from Sakleshpur around 1 p.m. on Monday (February 3).
Accusing him of creating a fire in the forest area, they tied him to a tree and beat him up severely with belt and sticks. He has bruises all over his body. Later, two forest guards also joined the accused and they took his signature on a blank sheet of paper.
“I was returning home after work in Sakleshpur. I don’t know anything about the fire in the forest area. They blamed me and assaulted me. I was screaming for help, but they beat me for hours, before letting me go around 5 p.m.”, he said. His wife Prema took him to the government hospital in Sakleshpur, where he is undergoing treatment. Murthy’s family members have urged the police to take action against the accused.
Sivaram Babu, Deputy Conservator of Forests of Hassan, has refuted the allegations made against his staff. He told The Hindu that two guards reached the spot after they received information about the forest fire. “Our persons did not beat him up. They took his statement where he apologised for his actions. Now he has changed his version”, Mr. Babu said.
