A woman belonging to a Dalit family in Ullerahalli of Malur taluk in Kolar district was asked to pay a fine of Rs 60,000 as her son touched a pole attached to the idol of Sidiranna during a religious procession held in the village.
On September 8, the villagers arranged the Bhootayamma fair. But Dalits were not allowed to enter the village deity’s temple. During the procession, Shobamma’s 15-year-old son touched a pole attached to the idol of Sidiranna, a prominent South Indian village deity. A villager noticed this and asked the Dalit family to appear before the elders in the village on the next day.
The elders considered his son’s action to be a crime and ordered her to pay a sum of 60,000 by October 1. She was told that she would be 'thrown out of the village' if she failed to pay the fine, as per The Indian Express report.
Shobamma expressed her ordeal telling the publication, “If God doesn’t like us, we will not pray to him. We will offer our prayers to Dr B R Ambedkar. I take a train every morning at 5:30 am to Bengaluru and work as housekeeping staff and return by 7:30 pm. I get a salary of Rs 13,000 and that is all we have to run the house. The Rs 60,000 penalty came as a shock for us.”
After the incident came to light, the police invoked provisions of the Protection of Civil Rights Act against those who were involved in the incident.
(Published 22 September 2022, 14:30 IST)
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