A young Dalit was tied to his cot and burnt alive in the Patti area of Pratapgarh district on Monday morning.

Vinay Prakash Saroj aka Bablu, 35, used to sleep in a shed in his agricultural field, where he had a piggery. His family told the police he had left their house in the village after dinner on Sunday night.

“Some villagers saw flames leaping out of Bablu’s shed at 6am on Monday,” Ram Saroj, a villager, told reporters. “They rushed there and found him charred to death, tied to his cot. We immediately called the police, who arrived at 8.30am and took him to hospital.”

“We have sent the body for post-mortem and are investigating the case,” Pratapgarh superintendent of police S. Anand said.