A group of musclemen allegedly assaulted a Mahadalit labourer, spat and urinated on his face in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar for demanding wages from them.

The victim approached the police on Tuesday and registered an FIR after a video of the incident went viral on social media platforms.

The victim Rinku Manjhi, who hails from the Musahar (rat eater) caste, considered Mahadalit or the most downtrodden among the Scheduled Castes, had worked to build a poultry farm of one Ramesh Patel at Karanpur Uttari village under Bochahan block for several days last month.

“Towards the end of the work, Ramesh withheld my two day wages equal to ₹ 1,200. I switched to some other work elsewhere. I was cycling to work at around 8am on October 4 and saw him sitting at his poultry farm and demanded my pending wages. The Durga Puja had started and I needed money,” Manjhi told the police in his complaint.

“Ramesh flared up and started hurling expletives on me. He, his son Gaurav Patel and others started beating me when I told him not to use abusive language. I was hurt and fell down on the ground after which he (Ramesh) spat on my face. His son urinated on my face,” Manjhi added.

The victim was left injured on the roadside after which a few villagers took him to the community health centre at Bochahan for treatment. He recuperated for a few days at his home before mustering the courage to approach the police. The viral video also provided an impetus.

“Manjhi has accused Ramesh, Gaurav and Arun Patel. We have included their names in the FIR registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989. We are conducting raids to arrest them,” Bochahan SHO Rakesh Kumar Yadav said.