Koppal: An incident in Karnataka recently led to a Dalit family being fined Rs 23,000 after their two-year-old son entered a Hanuman temple in Miyapura village in Koppal district of Karnataka.
On September 4, the toddler’s father took him to a temple to receive blessings on his birthday. He was cautious not to enter the temple, as it was ‘forbidden’ by the members of the upper caste. However, the boy ran inside the temple to pray and returned. Angry at this, members of the upper caste held a meeting on September 11. By entering the temple, the Dalit boy had desecrated the temple and his parents were asked to pay Rs 23,000 for ritual purification.
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The district administration, however, which discovered the development, has dispatched police, revenue, and social welfare officials to the village. The officers have conducted an awareness campaign regarding untouchability for all villagers. Officers took upper class members to task for imposing a fine on the Dalit boy’s parents, and let them off after warning that legal action would be taken if they repeated the mistake.
According to IANS, Superintendent of Police, Koppal, T. Sridhar visited the site. The culprits were admonished. They apologized to the boy’s father. Even though the police went to the victim’s house to convince him to file a complaint, the elders of the community decided against it as it would breed animosity. ‘The people from upper caste themselves opposed the action of the members of their own community and apologized to the Dalit boy`s family,’ he explained.
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