Days after the shocking incident of a village panchayat slapping a fine of ₹60,000 on a Dalit minor boy for accidentally touching the wooden pole of a village deity and forcing them to stay out of the village, the Masti police have registered a case against eight members of the village panchayat under various sections of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The incident occurred on Sunday at the Hurulukere village in Kolar when the boy touched the pole attached to the village deity chariot accidentally during a procession. There were differences of opinion among various communities, but no one dared to go against the diktat of the panchayat.
It all started when villagers were in a festive mood carrying the procession of Bhootamma idol, the village deity, as part of a 300-year-old tradition to all the five villages and reached the village of the boy. The boy, an SSLC student, lives with his mother who is a domestic help at an apartment complex in Kadugodi.
One of the men carrying the chariot stopped for a while to take rest and supported it to a wooden pole, which was about to slip. Noticing this, the victim held the pole to stop the chariot from falling.
Venkateshappa, one of the organisers, noticed this and accused him of defiling the deity and complained to the village panchayat.
The panchayath members summoned the mother of the boy the next day and slapped a fine of ₹60,000 to “cleanse the deity.”
The family was also asked to get out of the village and not return until the money is arranged.
Shocked, the family stayed outside the village the whole night before some of their community members rushed to their help and escalated the issue.
Considering the magnitude of the incident, the Deputy Commissioner of Kolar district and the Superintendent of Police visited the village on Tuesday and held talks to create awareness among the villagers.
The jurisdictional police have also been directed to book the pachayat members under various provisions of the SC/ST Atrocities Act and efforts are on to track down the members who are on the run.
