Deoria, June 4 -- A 14-year-old Dalit girl was tied to a tree and allegedly beaten by a shopkeeper who accused her of theft, and dragged her through the village by her hair in Uttar Pradesh's Deoria district, in an incident of caste violence.

The incident occurred on May 31 under the Tarkulwa Police Station limits in Mishrauli village. The shopkeeper, Harikesh Gupta, was later arrested on June 1 after a video of the humiliating incident was widely circulated on social media.

A clip shows Gupta tying the girl to a tree with a rope and assaulting her over suspicion of stealing goods from his shop, while several villagers surround her.

She was subjected to casteist slurs, with her family claiming Gupta humiliated the minor by dragging her...