IANS

Patna, Dec 4: A Dalit man was shot dead in cold blood by a group of upper caste men in a Bihar village for sitting on a chair to watch a musical entertainment programme at a wedding, police said Thursday.

Harendra Kumar Manjhi, in his late 20s, was shot dead in Salempur village in Saran district, some 80 km from here, by upper caste men for sitting on a chair and violating the social status code at a wedding late Wednesday night, police said.

According to family members of the victim, Manjhi was sitting on a chair and watching the musical programme, when a group of upper caste men asked his name.

"When he told them that he was a Dalit, that angered them so much that he was shot dead for daring to sit on a chair," a relative of Manjhi said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Chandrasekhar Singh confirmed that he too had heard this from the villagers.

Singh said a case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been lodged against some people.

Manjhi died on the spot and after that the marriage ceremony was cut short and villagers fled from the site.

On Thursday morning when news of this incident spread in the village, hundreds of Dalit men and women protested and demanded action against the culprits.

Singh said police have begun investigation into the case but so far no arrest has been made.

Manjhi belonged to the Musahar caste, poorest-of-the-poor Dalit caste that was given the status of Maha Dalit by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.