MYSURU: A Dalit man was thrashed, paraded naked and tied to a pole allegedly by upper caste villagers for entering a temple in Gundlupet near Veeranapura Gate on Mysuru-Ooty Road. According to the family, the incident occurred on June 3 and the video of the man getting beaten up has gone viral on social media.
The victim, aged around 35, is under trauma and is currently undergoing treatment at St Mary’s Psychiatric, De-addiction and Rehabilitation Centre in Mysuru. His family said he was beaten up for entering the temple and they will file a complaint with the Gundlupet police on Tuesday.
A police officer from Gundlupet Police Station said they have received a plaint from the villagers claiming the man urinated on the idol and “was detained” by them. He said the man appeared jittery and mentally unsound. He, however, refused to comment on the video. Kantharaj, a relative of the victim, said the latter was preparing for the civil services exam after quitting his job a few years ago.
According to him, the victim, a resident of Shyanadrahalli village, Gundlupet, had gone to write the civil services preliminary exam in Mysuru on June 2. A copy of the hall ticket, which is available with The New Indian Express, says the victim suffers from autism. However, the victim could not reach the exam centre on time and was turned away, said Kantharaj.
Dejected by this, the victim, during his way back home, halted at Raghavapura village on Ooty Road and spent the night there. Next day, he went to the Kebbekatte Shani temple where he was questioned by the villagers. After learning about the name of his village, they identified him as a Dalit and humiliated him, Kantharaj said.
“When the victim’s father, a retired block development officer, went to rescue him, the villagers had dressed him up and tied him to the pole ... but he was mentally upset .... he was taken to the hospital in Mysuru. A day later, we started getting videos of him getting paraded naked,” said Murthy, a friend of the victim.