Gujarat: Man beaten to death for using speaker to play devotional songs; five held

A 42-year-old man was beaten to death by six persons over a dispute about using a speaker to play devotional songs at a temple built inside a home in Gujarat's Mehsana district, police said on Friday.

The police on Thursday arrested five out of six accused for the incident that took place at Mudarda village of the district on May 3, sub-inspector S B Chavda of Langhnaj police station said.

"We have arrested five out of six persons named in the FIR. They allegedly attacked the victim Jaswant Thakor and his elder brother Ajit with sticks, following a verbal spat regarding a speaker installed by the Thakor family at a small temple built inside their house," Chavda said.

An FIR was registered on May 4 on the basis of a complaint lodged by Ajit, and it stated that the Thakor family had built a small temple dedicated to Goddess Meldi in the premises of their house in Mudarda village.

On the evening of May 3, Ajit had lit a lamp in the temple and started playing devotional music. Upset about the use of a speaker, another villager Sadaji Thakor came to their house and raised an objection, it was stated.

"When Ajit said the volume of the speaker was already low, Sadaji and five others, including Jayanti Thakor and Vinu Thakor, got angry and started beating the Thakor brothers with sticks. On learning about the incident, the police reached the spot and rushed the brothers to Mehsana civil hospital in an ambulance," Chavda said.

The brothers sustained serious injuries, and were later on referred to Ahmedabad civil hospital, where doctors declared Jaswant dead, while Ajit is currently undergoing treatment as he has fractured his hand, the official said.