Salon owners relent; agree to serve all in Mahadevapura

The salon owners finally relented and agreed to do haircuts for the people, belonging to the Scheduled Caste communities, at Mahadevapura village in Srirangapatna taluk on Friday.

A section of the people, belonging to SC communities, had lodged a complaint with the tahsildar and the police in this regard recently.

The tahsildar and the police officers visited Mahadevapura on Friday and were successful in convincing the saloon owners to serve the SC community people of Mahadevapura, putting an end to the practice followed for years.

Tahsildar Shwetha N Ravindra warned the salon owners not to engage in caste discrimination. The licences of the men’s parlours which do not follow the orders would be cancelled and those, following the practice of untouchability, will have to face legal action, she warned.

The parlour owners explained that they were not engaged in caste discrimination and have been serving the people of SC communities from other villages.

They said they refused to serve the SC people of Mahadevapura because they were insulting and talking lightly about their caste and profession for a long time.

A false complaint of caste discrimination and abuse has also been also lodged, they alleged. The tahsildar held discussions with the leaders of both groups. There should not be any unfair treatment in the name of castes, she said.

DySP Sandesh Kumar said, “The confusion over serving the SC communities has been resolved amicably. The parlour owners have agreed to serve all. Action would be taken as per the law if they refuse service to SC communities in future”.

The salons at Mahadevapura closed shops from November 6 till Thursday.