Una Dalit atrocity victims officially discharged from Rajkot civil hospital

Rajkot: The four victims of the Una Dalit Atrocity case, which had rocked the state as well as the nation earlier this month, were formally discharged from the Rajkot Civil hospital where several political leaders had made a bee-line to meet them.

Superintendent of the hospital Dr. D J Vatsraj today said that the four victims, residents of Mota Samdhiyana under Una taluka of Gir Somnath district, were discharged today. Another person, who was hospitalized after consuming poison in protest against the incident was also discharged from the hospital today.

A total of 18 persons including the four victims and 12 either injured in police action during protests or those consumed poison were admitted in the hospital. Of them only two including Kanti Vala, an accused of the killing of a policemen in Amreli who died during stone pelting of the dalit protestors, were now in the hospital, Mr Vatsraj said.

He said that three of the victims of the Una incident of July 11 were admitted to the hospital on July 16 while one came on July 21.

Meanwhile, the hospital sources informed that many of the those hospitalized including the victims put forth some protest during discharge. Though the hospital administration was satisfied with their condition, they wished to stay longer. The sources said that some of them felt comfortable here and enjoyed a kind of VVIP status as many of the political bigwigs including the Chief Ministers of Gujarat and Delhi and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi visited them.

The VIP visits in the hospital last week had also affected the normal functioning and the common patients faced hardship in the wake of the tightened security and other restriction imposed.

PTI