Justice for Dalit women in Chitradurga

The superintendent of police (SP) in Chitradurga, on Wednesday, ordered the immediate arrest of eight men for allegedly beating up a Dalit woman and parading her naked through Lakshmisagar, a village in the Challakere taluk.

He also directed a thorough probe into the reported rape of Dalit women of another village in the same taluk.

The order to arrest the suspects, allegedly part of a mob of about 30 to 40 men, followed a report in this newspaper, Villagers parade Dalit woman naked, published on Wednesday.

DNA had also packaged another report on its front page, drawing attention to the plight of Dalits in Budihalli village. “…women in all the 30 Dalit families living in Budihalli have either been raped or sexually harassed by landlords,” the report said.

The SP, Labhuram, said the police had intensified the probe  into the alleged case of atrocities on Dalits.

Responding to the reports, Janardhana Swamy, the parliament member representing Chitradurga, said he would look into the details and direct the district administration to act swiftly to provide justice.

Bhagyamma, aged 25, was beaten up and dragged naked through the Lakshmisagar village for helping a Cupid-struck couple elope.

While the girl belonged to the Nayak community, the boy was a Dalit. The men, all from the girl’s community, also assaulted her husband on January 17.

In her complaint, Bhagyamma had named eight men as her tormentors: Vasanth (son of Shivanna), Prakash (s/o Bhangira Obanna), Hanumanthappa (s/o Huliyappa), Prakash (s/o Chidandappa), Obanna (s/o Kuruvanoor Obanna), Manjunath (s/o Shivanna) Kumar (s/o Muddeloganna) and Suresh (s/o Eshwarappa).