Seven Men from Bihar Attacked for Wearing 'Lungi' and ‘Sitting Indecently’ in Gujarat

Vadodara: Seven men hailing from Bihar were attacked allegedly for wearing "lungi" and "sitting indecently" here, following which three persons were arrested Wednesday, police said.

The attack took place on Monday night in Sama locality in the city, police said. It has come in the wake of recent attacks on Hindi-speaking migrants in parts of Gujarat. The police claimed that the attack on Monday night was an isolated incident and had "nothing to do with the origin of the victims".

Talking about the incident, Vadodara Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said, "The men were attacked after they did not pay heed to the local residents, who regularly asked them not to sit there indecently by wearing lungi (a traditional garment worn around the waist)."

He said the incident cannot be termed a "hate crime" against Hindi-speaking migrants. "The victims, working at a construction site in the locality, used to wear lungi and sit in the area. Women and men, staying at Vankarvas under Sama police station area, had repeatedly warned these men against wearing lungi and sitting indecently," Singh said.

"The victims were attacked after an altercation broke out between the two groups on Monday night," he said.

Sama police station Inspector P D Parmar said those who were attacked belonged to Bihar. While six of them are plumbers, another one is an engineer.

According to police, the attackers also torched a motorcycle belonging to the engineer, he said.

The accused were identified as Dhiru Parmar, Hardik Parmar, and Nikunj Vaghela, police said. The three arrested accused were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 435 (mischief by fire), and 114 (abettor present when offence is committed).

Parmar maintained that despite the attack, the victims and others from Bihar continue to work at the site.

Districts in the northern parts of Gujarat were rocked by violence after a labourer from Bihar was arrested on the charge of raping a 14-month-old girl in Sabarkantha district on September 28. The attacks on HIndi-speaking migrants, mostly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh led to the exodus of thousands of migrants from Gujarat.