Two young men from the lower rungs of the country's caste system - one a Dalit from the Jatav community and the other from the Other Backward Class Kewat community - were subjected to brutal torture in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, over claims of sexual assault, the police have said.
The incident took place on June 30 in Warkhadi in the Narwar area of Shivpuri. The two young men were violently beaten, their faces blackened, forced to ingest faeces, and then humiliatingly paraded through the town.
The distressing episode was reported to the police by the Dalit victim's brother. Shivpuri district police have since charged seven members of a local minority family with the assault and have already caught six suspects, including two women.
