Kaithal: Just when the elders from both Dalit and Ror communities were deliberating on putting an end to caste tension at Pabnawa village, a group of youths from the dominating community allegedly attacked and injured two Dalits on late Tuesday night.
One of the injured Ram Mehar, 23, was admitted to the advance trauma centre of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, in a serious condition.
Sunil, another Dalit, also sustained injuries and is undergoing treatment at the local civil hospital.
Agitated over the incident, a large number of Dalits, including women gathered at the mini secretariat on Wednesday and demanded action against the accused.
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Surinder Bhoria, however, assured that the accused would be arrested within 24-hours.
Meanwhile, the authorities have deployed additional police force in the village to avoid any untoward incident.
Earlier, members of Ror community had attacked and ransacked the Dalit basti on April 13, after a Dalit boy, Surya Kant (26), married Meena (21), of the Ror community on May 8.
So agitated were they that apart from attacking and ransacking several houses and shops they even attacked a police party that had come to maintain order in the village.
So far, the police have arrested 33 members of the Ror community for attacking Dalits.
The couple, now under police protection, hails from Pabnawa village.
Public works department minister Randeep Singh Surjewala had tried to mediate by urging the communities to ensure peace in village.
Following the Tuesday night’s incident. Dalits are up in arms.
Rajiv, a Dalit youth from the village, said that the community felt cheated and threatened, as despite assurances, a section of Ror community members were still attacking them.
Terming the Tuesday night’s incident unfortunate, Husan Singh, sarpanch and a Ror leader told HT that certain unsocial elements of the community were responsible for the act.
"The village is fed up with such anti-community activities and we unanimously demand for the arrest of these irresponsible youths. We will not allow them to harm the social fabric of the village anymore," the sarpanch said.