Two 18-year-old Dalit teenagers were bound to a tree and brutally thrashed with lathis by four men belonging to an upper-caste community for more than 12 hours, accusing them of stealing hens. Videos of the barbaric incident where the hapless teenagers were surrounded by men, and flogged with sticks, was captured by bystanders on their mobiles, and shared on social media. The victims were tied to a tree for several hours, police said.

The incident took place on Tuesday under the Dharmajigudem police limits in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. The duo were identified as Venkateswara Rao and Santhosh, who are presently availing treatment in Chintalapudi government hospital. They have suffered injuries to their legs, shoulders and back. Their condition is stable, police said. The victims belong to the Mala community, categorized as Scheduled Caste in the state, while the accused are from the Kapu community. 

Narrating the incident, Venkateswara Rao told the media, “On Monday, when we were going to a nearby village, we stopped at a shop in Gonthupadu village. While we were having a discussion whether we should fill fuel from the bottles available at the shop, Santosh had already grabbed the bottle. When the shop owner noticed this, she accused us of stealing the petrol and made a scene asking if we were the ones stealing hens in their village.

The shop owner then called the villagers, and four of them forcibly detained and questioned them about their alleged attempt to steal petrol. They also accused them of stealing hens.