Karnataka

There has been a longstanding dispute in the village between the Dalits and the Vokkaliga community as the Dalits do not have access to a road to the little land they have. In one of these disputes Sreenivas, a Dalit was attacked by the dominant caste group and hence went to the police station to lodge a formal complaint. However, S.I. Mallesh of Huliyurdurga, who belongs to the same Vokkaliga community, refused to accept the complaint and instead beat up Sreenivas and retained him in the station till 6.00 p.m. On being released from the police station Sreenivas then approached the Dalit Jagruti Samithi (DJS) for help. The next day DJS leaders took Sreenivas to the station, but arguments with S.I. Mallesh forced them to take up the issue with the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), especially when Mallesh started verbally abusing the women leaders with casteist language. Angered by the apparent ‘audacity’ of the Dalit leaders Mallesh began to hatch a plan to “teach them a lesson”.

A Vokkaliga forum, ‘Vokkaliga Yuva Vedike’ suddenly was created and a pamphlet distributed announcing a protest march in Kunigal on 06.11.02 against purported atrocities on Vokkaligas by Dalits. DJS leaders met Dr. Hitendra IPS with a memorandum to prevent this false protest, instigated by S.I. Mallesh, from going ahead, but the S.P. was slow to act. Notably, police officers in Kunigal advised Dalits and the DJS leader of Kunigal taluk not to remain in Kunigal during the protest time, as they feared a physical attack on the Dalits.

On 06.11.02, the day of the procession, about 300 people assembled in Kunigal, conducted a protest march, shouting slogans against the Dalit community and speaking highly inflammatory words in their public speeches. In the evening of the same day, before the Dalit men could return home from their work, a group of dominant caste hooligans entered the Dalit area of the village and began to attack the Dalits as well as damage their houses. First they broke all the lights and disconnected power. There was no resistance to their vandalism as most Dalit men were not present on the scene. The two policemen who were posted there for protection had left duty exactly at the time of the attack, indicating the police hands in this attack. These two policemen are now placed under suspension. Women and children were attacked and 94 Dalit houses in total damaged.

Following the attack, the SP, District Collector and ASP visited the village the next day and promised compensation to the Dalits. An initial small amount of compensation was released a few days later. Two policemen who should have been on duty were suspended, and four of the perpetrators arrested, but then let out on bail to return to harass and threaten the Dalit villagers. On 09.11.02, the local MLA visited the village, but merely to abuse the Dalits in the presence of their very attackers, clearly indicating his connection with and support for the attack. That evening two false cases were booked against Sreenivas and local DJS leader Narayan. DJS then announced and conducted a one-day fast in front of all Taluk offices on 12.11.02 in protest against the false cases, and police inactivity to arrest the remaining accused and keep them all behind bars pending trial (as is the legal norm as per the SC/ST (POA) Act). The case is still going on, and the Ujjani Dalits still await justice.

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