Dalit man in UP set on fire after being mistaken for thief, dies

Police said the victim was on his way to his in-laws’ place on Thursday night when stray dogs forced him to hide in a shed outside a house. But some villagers thought he was a thief and started thrashing him.

A 28-year-old man on Monday succumbed to his injuries at a Lucknow hospital four days after he was mistaken for a thief and was stripped, thrashed and set on fire at Raghavpurwa in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki.

Sujeet Kumar had suffered over 40% burns along with other severe injuries by the time he was rescued. (Representational image only)

Sujeet Kumar had suffered over 40% burns along with other severe injuries by the time he was rescued.

Police said Kumar was on his way to his in-laws’ place on Thursday night when stray dogs forced him to hide in a shed outside a house in Raghavpurwa. “Hearing the dogs bark, some villagers came out of their houses and found Sujeet Kumar hiding behind a wall. They thought he was a thief and started thrashing him,” said Barabanki police superintendent Akash Tomar.

The police rescued him and took him first to a local hospital. He was later shifted to Lucknow’s Civil Hospital on Saturday.

Ashutosh Dubey, the chief medical superintendent of the civil hospital, said Kumar had burn injuries in the lower half of his body from thighs to feet and he was under observation. “He was critical at the time of admission. His injuries got infected and spread to other parts of the body, resulting in death.”

“We are trying to ensure that the people who caused his death are punished under the law,” said Tomar. He added he would also write to the district and the state officials to get financial compensation for Kumar’s family.