Dalit teen beaten to death in Uttarakhand over befriending girl from upper caste community

Members of the girl's family allegedly locked the teen inside a room and beat him up. He later succumbed to the injuries.

Published on: Jun 9, 2026, 10:36:52 IST

Edited by Poorva Joshi

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An 18-year-old from the Dalit community was allegedly beaten to death in Uttarakhand's Tehri Garhwal district over befriending a giril from an upper caste community. Besides, one of the teen's friends was injured in the incident, that sparked huge uproar among locals.

A case under the charge of murder and Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been registered. (PTI/representative )

According to a PTI report, Ketan Lal, the deceased, had been friends with the girl for six months now.

Teen gets call, then beaten up

Upon receiving a call from her at around 11pm on Sunday, Ketan went to her village Kholgarh with Diwakar Dimri, his friend.

This is when members of the girl's family locked them both in a room and assaulted them with sticks, the report further said, citing the police. The next morning, Ketan's father Dhanpal Lal received a call from the girl's father, asking him to pick up his son.

Upon reaching the location, Dhanpal found Ketan covered in blood, rushed him to a hospital, but he couldn't be saved.

A case under the charge of murder and Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been registered, Tehri Garhwal Senior Superintendent of Police Shweta Choubey said. Besides, one person, identified as Yashveer Singh Panwar, has been detained for questioning.

Also Read: Greater Noida: 2 more held over killing of Dalit boy in Rabupura

Ketan's friend Diwakar, who was injured in the incident, has been admitted to the district hospital in Baurari.

Similar incidents in the past

In October 2025, a Dalit teen died in Greater Noida after being beaten up on his birthday. He was allegedly attacked by “upper-caste” men on his birthday night and had reportedly been facing threats from them.

Earlier that same month, a 38-year-old Dalit man was beaten to death in UP's Rae Bareli district. The man was lynched by people who allegedly mistook him for a “drone thief”. Rumours of thieves marking houses with drones had emerged back then.

More recently in May 2026, a 17-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and gang-raped by three people in UP's Pratapgarh district.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Poorva Joshi
Poorva Joshi is a Senior Content Producer with nearly five years of experience in journalism. She covers Indian politics and geopolitics, with a focus on diplomatic relations, trade negotiations, and economic policy between countries. She has previously worked at India Today, CNN-News18 and India TV. Over the years, she has reported extensively on major national and international developments, including the Air India plane crash, the Pahalgam terror attack, India–US trade tensions, tensions in the Middle East, high-profile crime stories in India, multiple state Assembly elections, and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. She spearheaded the Bihar Assembly elections live blog, which drew over one million users to the Hindustan Times website. Her reporting on India–US tariff and trade tensions has consistently driven strong readership and engagement for the platform. In addition to reporting, she has spent a significant part of her career leading newsroom shifts, ideating stories, editing and fine-tuning copies, and seeing coverage through from planning to publication, alongside writing original articles. At HT, she received the Insta Award for being the top contributor to the HT News Team in November.Read More

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