November 16, 2007	Friday	Ziqa’ad 05, 1428

NEW DELHI, Nov 15: A low-caste Indian man was stabbed to death and his body burnt in central India after he beat a bull that had charged into his courtyard, a report said on Wednesday.

Kailash Bagri, who was a member of India’s lowest Dalit caste, was killed last weekend after beating the animal with a stick, the Times of India said.

The animal got loose and ran into Bagri’s courtyard, destroying some decorations, it said.

The bull was to have been worshipped as part of a Hindu festival. In majority Hindu India, the cow and sometimes the bull are revered as sacred.

Bagri’s actions enraged villagers who attacked him as his family watched helplessly, the report said.

“They set the body on fire to destroy evidence and threatened Bagri’s family against reporting the murder to the police,” police officer Chanchal Shekhar was quoted as saying.

One relative however slipped out of the remote village and informed authorities, Shekhar said, adding that police arrested six people on Tuesday and charged them with murder.

The Dalits, once known as “untouchables,” are shunned by privileged higher castes as they occupy the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder.—AFP