A Dalit man was stripped and beaten up by a mob for allegedly touching a car that belonged to a man from an upper caste in north Karnataka’s Bijapur district on Saturday.

The incident came to light on Monday when a video clip of the attack was circulated on social media.

Kashinath Talwad, 32, was walking to work with his father Yenkappa at 11am on Saturday when the mob accused him of touching the car and attacked him.

The video showed the mob thrashing Kashinath who was lying on the road. The attackers were seen pulling down his pants and beating him with a stick.

The mob also allegedly beat up Yenkappa who pleaded for mercy. They even molested Kashinath’s 26-year-old sister and mother who rushed to the spot hearing the commotion. “They threatened to burn us if we continue to live in the village, even as I kept begging them to let go of my son and family,” Yenkappa told reporters in Bijapur.

The attackers, however, filed a counter-complaint accusing Kashinath of flashing at two girls who were washing clothes. Kashinath’s family has denied the charge.

The police filed an FIR naming 13 men from an upper caste under IPC Sections 143 for unlawful assembly, 147 for rioting, 323 for voluntarily causing hurt, 354 for outraging the modesty of a woman, 504 for intentional insult with an intent for breach of peace, 506 for criminal intimidation and under relevant sections of The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act).

It was not immediately known if the police have yet filed an FIR in the counter-complaint.