‘Love affair’ leads to boycott of Dalit families in Karnataka’s Hunasagi taluk

The upper caste community has instructed grocery stores in the village not to sell anything to Dalits after the mother of a minor girl filed POCSO complaint against an upper caste youth.

Ramakrishna Badseshi

YADGIR/KALABURAGI : Members of an upper caste in Bapparga village of Hunasagi taluk in Yadgir district have allegedly boycotted Dalit families.

This was after the mother of a minor Dalit girl filed a POCSO complaint against a youth from the upper caste community for maintaining a physical relationship with her daughter and making her pregnant.

The complaint was filed with the Narayanpur police on August 14 and the youth was arrested. The complaint states that the youth had been in a physical relationship with the girl, promising to marry her. But he stopped contacting the girl after coming to know that she was pregnant and also sent a message to her family that he was not willing to marry her, the complaint added.

A few days ago, villagers from the upper caste community held a meeting and decided to boycott the Dalits, as the girl’s family filed the complaint without consulting members of the upper caste in Bapparga.

A Dalit youth from the village, Parashuram, told TNIE that the upper caste community has instructed grocery stores in the village not to sell anything to Dalits, especially the girl’s family.

On Thursday, when the girl’s family went to a shop to buy groceries, and another Dalit went to a stationer to buy notebooks and pens for his children, the shop owners declined to sell either groceries or stationery to Dalits, saying upper caste members have told them not to sell any necessity to Dalits in the village, Parashuram said.

An audio clip of shop owners explaining to the Dalits that they would get into trouble if they violate the diktats of upper caste members has gone viral on social media sites.

When TNIE contacted Yadgir Deputy Commissioner P Sushila, she said the Hunasagi Tahsildar Basalingappa Naikode and a team of officials have been sent to the village to speak with both communities to resolve the issue.

Naikode said that he visited the village on Friday and held discussions with leaders of both communities separately. He said the issue would be resolved soon.

Yadgir district in-charge and Small Scale Industries Minister Sharanabasappa Darshanapur said he has sought a report from the district administration, and, if necessary, he will visit the village to solve the matter amicably.

Leader of opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy issued a statement, strongly condemning the boycott.

“It is inhuman that the villagers are not selling groceries or stationery to Dalits,” he said, asking Darshanapur and Sushila to meet the villagers and resolve the issue. The rape victim should be given justice, and the guilty should be punished, he added.

The BJP leader said he will visit the village on Tuesday and interact with Dalits.

Courtesy : TNIE

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