A 17-year-old Dalit boy in Gujarat, who claimed that he was attacked on October 3 for sporting a moustache, has now confessed to the police that he staged the act to garner publicity, reported Hindustan Times.
Earlier the minor had claimed that two persons on a bike stabbed him for sporting a moustache while he was returning from school after finishing his examination. He had also alleged that he was attacked because he was a witness in the case of his cousin, who was thrashed by upper caste men in their village.
Police officer Virendra Yadav said, “We had registered a complaint and began an investigation. Our suspicion grew when the forensic team visited the spot where the boy claimed to have been stabbed. The team didn’t find any blood marks. Neither did we, on examination of the boys’ clothes, find them soiled, despite the attack allegedly having taken place in a muddy patch,” as reported by NDTV.
The police then questioned the minor, who confessed, “I was not attacked by anybody. I inflicted the injury myself with the help of friends just like that,” reported Hindustan Times
The attack on him that led to protests across the state and also sparked widespread outrage on social media.
It also led to a viral online campaign, with hashtag #RightToMoustache and formation of groups such as ‘Moonch To Rakhenge’ where Dalit men uploaded photographs of themselves sporting moustaches.