Chikkaballapur: Dalit youths staged a strong protest on Monday after they were allegedly denied permission by upper caste members to lift the palanquin of the village Goddess in Karnataka’s Chikkaballapur district, turning the situation tense in the area.
The jurisdictional Chikkaballapura Rural police rushed to the spot and are holding talks with leaders from both communities to defuse the issue. Police said they had received reports that the two groups clashed and that the idol of the Goddess was abandoned in the middle of the road. Preliminary investigations indicate that the incident occurred during the procession.
Villagers had collected donations from all sections of society, including Dalits, to organise the procession. However, a few youths from the Dalit community demanded that they also be allowed to carry the Goddess’s palanquin, which was reportedly denied. This led to arguments and a clash between the groups.
Police were informed and rushed to the spot. The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) has also arrived and is closely monitoring the situation.
In a related incident of caste violence in Karnataka, an armed gang allegedly severed the left hand of Anish Kumar, a Dalit man, outside his house on Siddappaji Temple Road in Malagalu, Kanakapura town, in south Karnataka.
Separately, on October 25, 2024, a district court in Karnataka sentenced 101 people for their involvement in a mob attack on Dalits in Koppal district ten years ago. Ninety-eight of them were handed life terms, while three received five-year sentences. The incident occurred on August 29, 2014, in Marukumbi village, where the homes of three Dalit families were torched, and over 30 people were injured as a mob dragged Dalit men and women from their homes and assaulted them.
With IANS inputs