2 held, 6 booked for 'parading' man nude

Police have arrested two persons and have filed cases against six persons in connection with the assault on and nude procession of a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste at Kabbekatte village near here on Tuesday.

The victim is S Prathap, 38, a native of Shyanadrahalli in the taluk. He is a resident of Mysuru city.

He is currently being treated at a hospital in Mysuru.

The incident is said to have occurred on June 3. A videoclip of Prathap being taken in a procession nude had gone viral on the social media on Monday. Prathap’s cousin Kantharaju lodged a police complaint on Tuesday (June 11) in Gundlupet town.

The arrested are Shivappa and Puttaswamy, priests of Shaneshwara temple in the village. The other accused - Basavaraju, Manickya, Sathish and Murthy - are at large. Cases have been filed under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

SP Dharmendra Kumar Meena said Prathap’s father had produced a medical certificate, claiming that Prathap was suffering from a psychological problem.

Swamygowda, president of Shaneshwara Temple Management Board, had lodged a complaint with Gundlupet Police on June 7 against Prathap, alleging that he had damaged the idols at two temples on June 3.

According to the complaint, Prathap was nude when he was at the temple and when the villagers tried to cover him, he assaulted and pushed them.

“It was then, that they tied his hands and legs, made him sit and alerted the police. Prathap’s father had pleaded not to lodge a complaint and promised to bear the damage expenses. Hence, we did not lodge a complaint immediately,” Swamygowda said.