Hours after Argentina beat India in the women’s hockey semis at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday, two upper caste men in Haridwar stood outside star striker Vandana Katariya’s home at Roshnabad village and started hurling casteist abuses.
They started to dance and burst crackers to mock Vandana Katariya’s family. According to Vandana’s family, the miscreants stated that the reason behind India's loss was that it had "too many Dalit players".
According to the reports from TOI, one of the accused has been detained by cops.
Vandana’s brother Shekhar said, “We were upset after the loss. But the team went down fighting. We were proud of that. Suddenly, right after the match, we heard loud noises. Crackers were being burst outside our house. When we went outside, we saw two men from our village -- we know them and they are upper castes -- dancing in front of our house.”
When the men saw Vandana’s family step out, they went on to throw casteist abuses.
In a complaint filed by Shekhar, he said, "They used caste slurs, insulted our family and said the Indian team lost because too many Dalits have made it to the team. They went on, saying that it’s not just hockey but every sport that should keep Dalits out. Then, they took some of their clothes off and started dancing again…It was a caste-based attack.”
The TOI report further said that "an FIR was yet to be registered on the basis of the complaint."
SHO of Sidcul police station LS Butola said, "One man whose name came up has been detained. We have received a complaint and inquiry is on, after which a case will be filed."
Vandana Katariya creates history for India at Tokyo Olympics
Striker Vandana Katariya scored a historic hat-trick to keep alive the Indian women's hockey team's quarterfinals hopes in the Olympics with a fighting 4-3 victory over lower-ranked South Africa in its must-win final group match.
Vandana (4th, 17th, 49th minutes) achieved a rare feat by becoming the first Indian woman hockey player to score a hat-trick in the history of the Olympics.
Indian women's hockey team give Argentina a run for their money
A brave Indian women's hockey team put up a gritty performance, but it was not enough to secure a maiden Olympic final berth as it lost 1-2 to world number two Argentina in a hard-fought semifinal in the Tokyo Olympics.
Indian women's hockey team determined to win bronze
India still have a chance to win the bronze medal as they will take on Great Britain in the third-fourth place play-off match on Friday.
India's best performance in the Olympics came way back in the 1980 Moscow Games where they finished fourth out of six teams.
(With inputs from PTI)
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