Nanded Police Arrest Five in Caste-Related Killing of Dalit Man, Including Partner’s Family

New Delhi: After a 20-year-old man hailing from a Dalit community was threatened and killed allegedly by the relatives of his partner on caste grounds in Nanded, Maharashtra, police have arrested five people in connection with the case, including the woman's parents and her two brothers, per media reports.

Police in Nanded's Itwara invoked provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to murder, rioting and criminal conspiracy in addition to sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Arms Act against the accused, the Indian Express reported.

After Saksham Tate was killed on November 27, his partner, 21-year-old Aanchal Mamidwar, accused her family of opposing their relationship and planned marriage because they were from different castes.

At Tate's funeral the next day, Aanchal applied vermilion on her forehead and turmeric to his body to symbolise their ‘immortal’ union. She also reportedly called for her accused relatives to be hanged.

“We were in love for the past three years but my father opposed our relationship over caste differences. My family often threatened to kill Saksham,” IE quoted Aanchal as saying. Further, she mentioned that she would henceforth stay at Tate's home.

Speaking to PTI, a police officer alleged that Aanchal's brother Himesh Mamidwar shot Tate in the ribs and hit him with a tile on his head which led to his death. The authorities subsequently arrested Himesh, his brother Sahil Mamidwar and their father Gajanan Mamidwar, the officer said.

Mamidwar's mother Jayashri, another accused in the case, is also in custody, BBC Marathi cited the police as saying.

“My father and my brother have killed my Saksham … However, they have lost by killing him, while Saksham has won by dying. Because our love is still alive,” the broadcaster quoted Aanchal as saying.

According to IE, the accused told the police that they did not want Aanchal  to marry Tate because of his involvement in criminal cases. PTI reported that Tate and Himesh were both history‑sheeters and had been close friends in the past.

Aanchal also told mediapersons that she was coerced by her family into filing false complaints of rape and harassment against Tate before she turned 18 but that she withdrew the case when she became an adult.

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