Fifteen people have been arrested for allegedly assaulting a Dalit man after a scuffle broke out during the annual ‘Urus’, a fair in which both Hindus and Muslims participate, at Domanal village in Vijayapura district of Karnataka, police said.
The victim, identified as Sagar (23), was dancing during the festival when a fight broke out. Sagar, who was dancing in a drunken state, questioned the upper caste men for stopping the music, after which a scuffle broke out. The upper caste men then tied Sagar to a pole and thrashed him, the police said.
“In a village called Domanal, Urus was going on. During that time, the Dalit man who was in a drunken state was dancing along with the upper caste people. At one point of time, they have stopped the music and were about to go. But this Dalit man who was drunk didn’t want them to stop the music,” Vijayapura superintendent of police (SP) HD Ananda Kumar said.
“So, there was a scuffle between them. When the Dalit man attacked the upper caste people, they also in turn attacked him. When they were not able to control him, they took him and tied him to a pole. They have attacked him only with hands. No weapons have been used,” Kumar added.
Meanwhile, the victim alleged that the upper caste men thrashed him and used foul language for asking them about the music at the festival.
“When I was returning from the Urus in the night, they were dancing and I was dancing too. I asked them why they stopped the song and they thrashed me. I don’t know why they hit me,” Sagar said.
“I went home after that. When my brother questioned them about the incident, they used foul language and hit him as well…Then they came to my house, took me away and thrashed me after tying me to a pole. There were around 100 people. They verbally abused my parents as well,” Sagar added.
Based on video of incident, the police have registered a case and arrested 15 people in connection with the incident. “This has been videographed. Based on that a case of assault under the SC/ST atrocities Act has been registered and 15 people have been arrested,” a police official said, adding that legal action will be taken as per the law.
