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This is an archive article published on November 21, 2022
Karnataka village incident: FIR registered over ‘purification’ of water tank touched by Dalit woman
The incident had taken place in Heggatora village of Chamarajanagar district on Friday and it drew widespread criticism after the video of the 'purification' ceremony went viral on the social media on Saturday.
A few upper caste villagers allegedly drained out drinking water from a public tank and ‘purified’ it with cow urine after a Dalit woman drank from the tank. (File)
An FIR was registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act-2015, two days after some villagers ‘purified’ a water storage tank since a Dalit woman had drank water from it. A Lingayat leader has been named in the FIR.
The incident had taken place in Heggatora village of Chamarajanagar district on Friday and it drew widespread criticism after the video of the ‘purification’ ceremony went viral on the social media on Saturday. The case was registered under Section 3 (1) (za) (a) of the SC/ST Act.
According to the FIR, one Shivamma had come to attend a wedding in the village and she drank water from the tank located near Krishnadevaraya temple. A Lingayat leader of the village, Mahadevappa, whose name figure in the FIR, allegedly abused her for her act, citing her ‘low’ caste.
Villagers belonging to the upper caste then drained out the water from the tank and ‘purified’ it using cow urine.
Officials from the Social Welfare Department visited the village on Sunday and took about 20 Dalits to all public taps and made them drink water. Tehsildar of the taluk, I E Basavaraju, also held discussions with the villagers.
Reacting to the incident, Chamarajanagara district in-charge minister V Somanna said such discrimination wouldn’t be tolerated and instructed officials to take stringent action.
Heggotara village, which is 19km from Badanavalu, was in the news recently when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi inaugurated a pathway connecting the Dalit quarters of the village with the area dominated by Lingayats. The pathway, which was also named ‘Bharat Jodo’ road, was shut since 1993 after three Dalits had died in the violence over entry of Dalits to the temple.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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