Starting July 2016, an assault on Dalit men in Una in Gujarat, India resulted in statewide protests in following months.
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Una incident
On 11 July 2016, the four Dalit men were skinning the carcasses of dead cow in Mota Samadhiyala village near Una in Gir Somnath district. They were approached by persons in two cars who claimed to be member of cow protection group and accused them of killing cows. Dalits tried to convince them that they were skinning dead cows. They were not convinced and tied Dalits to the car and beat with sticks and iron pipes. They were brought to Una town and assaulted again in public and were later handed to the police station. The parents of one of them was also assaulted. The Dalits were moved to hospital in Una and later to Rajkot civil hospital on 14 July.
The police booked complaint against those assailants under attempt to murder and sections of Prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act. Three accused were arrested initially.
July
The videos of trashing went viral on internet and sparked the protests. On 12July, 2016, a huge protest rally was at first organized in Chandkheda area by various Dalit leaders like Tushar Parmar, Rajashree Kesri and many others in which more than 2000 dalits attended and clocked the state highway. 13 July 2016, hundreds on Dalits hold protest rally against the assault and later occupied Trikon Baug, the main square in Una for an hour. Two more accused were arrested bringing total to five. On 21 July, the issue was discussed in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament. The protests spread across Saurashtra region. Twelve Dalits youth attempted suicide in protest across the region and one of them died. Twelve people including seven police personnel were injured in the protest and one of them died.
The number of arrested increased to 16 by 22 July and the case was handed over to Crime Investigation Department crime branch (CID). Four police officers were also suspended.
By 28 July 2016, 20 accused were arrested.