The Lucknow man was chased by a couple of stray dogs in the locality. To avoid the dogs, he entered a house where the family members mistook him to be a thief.
Lucknow: In a horrifying incident, a 28-year-old Dalit man was set on fire after a family in Barabanki mistook him for a thief. The angered family members allegedly tried to burn him alive when he entered a house to avoid stray dogs in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district, police said.
The victim, Sujit Kumar, was rushed to a hospital, where his condition is stated to be stable, they said, adding that two of the four accused named in the FIR have been arrested.
The incident took place on Friday (July 19) in Deva area of Barabanki's Raghopur village.
Kumar was going to his in-laws' house at around 2 am on Friday (July 19). A couple of stray dogs chased him, which made him enter a house to avoid them, the police said.
The occupants of the house mistook him to be a thief. They thrashed him and tried to burn him alive by sprinkling petrol on him, superintendent of police, Barabanki, Akash Tomar, said.
Kumar sustained burn injuries on his back and was rushed to Civil Hospital, Lucknow.
An FIR has been registered against four people under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code in this regard. Two of the accused (Shravan and Umesh Yadav) have been arrested and a hunt is on to nab the others, they said.
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