Unholy act: Karnataka priest hurls casteist slurs at Dalit girl for trying to get water from temple tap

The police have booked the priest, Kenchappa, and his sister Yashodha under sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the IPC for assault using dangerous weapons, criminal intimidation, and intentional insult.

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The incident

The girl’s uncle Prasanna Kumar V told South First that his niece went to the temple for water on Monday since there was an issue with the water supply on their street.

“She went for water since she had to go to school. When she reached the temple, the priest started hurling abuses at her. The priest asked if the temple tap belonged to her family,” said Kumar, who works at a gas agency.

The man said Kenchappa hurled casteist slurs at the girl and threatened that people from their caste would not be allowed near the temple. Shocked, the minor returned home and informed her uncle of the incident.

Prasanna and his friend Jayakumar CB went to the temple and raised objections to the actions of the priest, who allegedly showered profanities on them as well.

A heated argument ensued and Yashodha came out and started hurling casteist slurs at them, before slapping Jayakumar, said Prasanna.

He added that she then picked up a brick and flung it at Jayakumar, injuring his leg. Villagers who gathered at the temple intervened to stop the brawl and informed the police.

“We took Jayakumar to a hospital where he is undergoing treatment. We went to the Ijoor Police Station and narrated the incident. However, they were reluctant to take up the case even until 9 pm. The case was registered only after Dalit organisations intervened,” Prasanna said.

Also read: Water tank ‘purified’ with cow urine after Dalit drinks from it

Priest, sister lodge counter-complaint 

Kenchappa and Yashoda, meanwhile, complained against the two men, accusing them of trespassing on their property, vandalising it, and assaulting them.

“We have registered two cases based on the complaints, and an officer in the rank of deputy superintendent of police will probe the incident. No arrests have been made so far as the mobile phones of the accused parties (priest and sister) are switched off,” a police officer told South First.

He added that the investigators had recorded the statements of three people who witnessed the priest abusing the girl.

Coincidentally, the latest incident involving the minor girl came close on the heels of a political slugfest over Sanatana dharma.

While upholding Sanatana dharma as a set of eternal duties, the Madras High Court on 15 September said that untouchability in a country of equal citizens could not be tolerated, even if permitted somewhere within the principles of Sanatana dharma.

Meanwhile, atrocities against Dalits are not new in Karnataka. An FIR was registered against an upper-caste man in November last year for allegedly abusing and castigating a Dalit woman for drinking water from a tank located in a Lingayat-dominated area in the Heggotara village in the Chamarajanagar district.

The woman was returning to the bus stand after attending a wedding when she drank water from the tank located near the Krishnaraya Temple. While she was drinking water, a person from an upper caste targeted her.

As soon as the woman left the village, a section of upper-caste people — mainly from the Lingayat community — drained the tank before “purifying’ it with goumutra (cow’s urine).