A Dalit daily wage worker from Aligarh whom the police had booked on June 23 as an “unidentified miscreant” on the charge of desecrating a temple visited
Khair police station on Friday and alleged that the priest and his five associates had attacked him that day for taking shelter from rain near the shrine.
“I remained silent for four days in fear of the attackers and the police but came to the police today when someone posted a video of the incident on social media which proves my innocence and shows how I was attacked,” Raju Jatav, 34, told reporters on Friday.
“I was going to my village, Sikarwar Mauryanagar, from Bajana with another labourer when it started raining. We went inside Shani Dev Mandir, offered prayers and came out. Since it was raining, we stood under a shade. Suddenly, some people, including the priest Jay Kishore, came and asked about my caste. They started beating +me the moment I told them that I am a Scheduled Caste,” Jatav said.