At least eight people were injured after a clash broke out between members of the Dalit and the upper caste communities over the alleged assault of a Dalit man in Hitnal village of Karnataka’s Koppal district, police said.
Police said the incident occurred during the Durga Jatre (fair) in the village on Tuesday. The Dalit man, identified as 31-year-old Mudiyappa, was allegedly attacked by a group of upper caste and Muslim community people for blowing a toy pipe where women had gathered, police said.
This led to a clash between the Dalit community and the upper caste people on Tuesday, police said. On Wednesday, at around 3 pm, a group of alleged upper caste people entered the Dalit community area in the village and allegedly attacked Mudiyappa’s family and other Dalits who arrived at the scene to stop the fight, police said.
“More than eight people have been injured in the incident and are being treated at Munirabad hospital,” a police officer said.
Enraged by the incident, the Dalits, on Wednesday, held a protest march from Hitnal to the Munirabad police station, urging the authorities to file a complaint against the accused.
Meanwhile, MLA Raghavendra Hitnal rushed to the police station and tried to pacify the protesting Dalits.
He also promised to bring the two communities together and hold a meeting to resolve the issue, the villagers said.
No complaint has been registered at the Munirabad Police Station regarding the incident. Tight security has been deployed at the village as a precautionary measure, the police added.
In another incident earlier this month in Koppal, a man was arrested for assaulting a Dalit woman whose cow had strayed inside his land in Rampura village in Kanakagiri taluk on February 3. The caste atrocity came to light after a video of the assault was widely shared on social media.
According to the police, Shobamma approached Amresh Kumbar’s property to retrieve her cow which had strayed. As she went to rescue her cow, Kumbar, who was infuriated, tied the woman in front of his house and assaulted her, the police said.
He also beat her up with chappals and casteist abuses, the police said, adding that after the incident, the woman’s relatives went to Amaresh’s house and talked to him.
After the incident went viral on social media platforms, the Kanakagiri police registered against Kumbar under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.