A 14-year-old low-caste "untouchable" was strangled in northern India because he shared his first name with a higher-caste youth, police said on Saturday. Neeraj Kumar, was allegedly kidnapped and strangled by a group of boys led by 23-year-old Neeraj Chaudhary, whose family resented the idea of the low-caste boy having the same first name, police said.
The victim's family are Dalits - or "untouchables" as they used to be known - who occupy the lowest rung in India's rigid caste hierarchy. Most live in poverty and do menial, supposedly "unclean" jobs like collecting garbage.