Patna, July 24 - A middle-aged Dalit woman, her son and his friend were allegedly abused and beaten by upper caste men in a Bihar village for listening to popular Hindi songs on a mobile phone, police said Friday.

The incident took place in Kurji village near here. According to one of the victims, the three of them were in a group listening to songs on their mobile phone when a group of upper caste Bhumihar men objected and asked them to stop. When they ignored their threat, the men allegedly beat them up.

Kishori Ravidas, in his early twenties, told IANS: 'Our only crime was that we were listening to Hindi songs on the mobile phone. This was disliked by some upper caste men. But when we continued to listen to the songs, we were beaten up.