Tribal man beaten up in clash during Ganesh festival dies in Telangana

Post-mortem conducted the following day at Mahabubnagar government hospital revealed that Bijili Mallesh died of collapse of lungs caused due to internal injuries

Hyderabad A 23-year old man belonging to a scheduled tribe (ST) community succumbed to sudden collapse of lungs after he was beaten up by a group of people in a clash during Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Telangana’s Mahabubnagar district on September 14 night, police said.

The victim was identified as Bijili Mallesh, who belonged to Yerukala tribal community (Getty Images)

The incident, which happened at Molgara village of Bhootpur block, came to light on Wednesday when 10 members allegedly involved in the incident were remanded to judicial custody. The victim was identified as Bijili Mallesh, who belonged to Yerukala tribal community, which depends on pig rearing.

Bhootpur sub-inspector of police G Bhaskar Reddy told HT that the incident happened around 10 pm on September 14, when Mallesh and his friends went to the local Ganesh mandap to look at the dancing being performed by some local Kurumas (shepherds), belonging to the Other Backward Classes, as part of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.

“Mallesh and his friends were sent back as they belonged to the ST community. Later, they went to the mandap again to participate in the dance. On seeing them, the music band stopped playing and this led to the clashes between the Kuruma youth and Mallesh,” the SI said.

He said all the participants in the clashes were in a drunken state. “During the clashes, Mallesh received blows on his chest and head repeatedly and he collapsed within minutes. He was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed while undergoing treatment in the early hours of September 15,” Reddy said.

Post-mortem conducted the following day at Mahabubnagar government hospital revealed that Mallesh died of collapse of lungs caused due to internal injuries.

“Based on the complaint given by Mallesh’s parents, we initially booked a case of attempt to murder under Section 304 (attempt to murder not amounting to culpable homicide) of Indian Penal Code, but after his death, we converted it into Section 302 (murder). We also booked the case under relevant sections of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against 11 persons involved in the incident,” the SI said.

While the police arrested 10 persons, including the son of Molgara village sarpanch, one more accused is still absconding. “All the 10 accused had been remanded to judicial custody for two weeks,” he said.