BHIND: A 25-year-old Dalit man was allegedly abducted, assaulted, and forced to drink urine twice in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhind district, police said on Tuesday. Three men have been arrested in connection with the incident, and an investigation is underway.

According to police officials, the main accused allegedly targeted the victim after he quit working as his driver. The complainant stated that the accused abducted him from Gwalior on Monday and took him to Bhind in a vehicle, where they beat him and forced him to drink urine.

Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Pathak said the victim, a resident of Akutpura village under Surpura police station limits, is currently receiving treatment at a hospital.

A case has been registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, along with relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for kidnapping, assault, and inhuman treatment. The arrested suspects have been identified as Sonu Barua, Alok Sharma, and Chhotu Ojha.

Speaking to reporters, the victim alleged that he was abducted from his in-laws’ residence in Gwalior’s Deendayal Nagar area and taken to Bhind in an SUV. He claimed that the accused beat him with a plastic pipe, stopped the vehicle midway, and forced him to drink urine from a bottle. He further alleged that upon reaching Akutpura village, he was tied with an iron chain and forced to drink urine again.

Police said the victim previously worked as a driver for the main accused, Sonu Barua of Datawali village, but had recently left the job, which reportedly led to the attack.

This is the latest in a series of similar atrocities reported across Madhya Pradesh. Earlier this month, a Dalit youth opposing illegal mining was allegedly beaten and urinated upon in Katni district. In May, a group of men reportedly abducted a relative in Guna district, took him to Rajasthan, and forced him to drink urine before parading him in women’s clothes. In another case in March, a man in Ujjain district was allegedly assaulted, forced to drink urine, and garlanded with shoes after he eloped with a married woman.

A similar case in July 2023, in which a video showed a man urinating on a tribal in Sidhi district, had sparked nationwide outrage.