Barber refuses haircut to Dalit boy in Aland village, booked

KALABURAGI: A barber has been booked after he allegedly refused to give a haircut to a Dalit boy at Kinnisultan village in Aland taluk on June 27. After the police intervened, the barber gave the boy a haircut.

On that day Mallikarjun Shreengeri took his son to the barber shop belonging to Pemanna Maruthi Shinde, but the latter refused. Mallikarjun objected to his and pointed out that all the three barber shops in the village refuse to give haircuts to the 125 Dalits boys, forcing them to go to Aland town.

After Shinde bluntly refused, Mallikarjun lodged a complaint with the Aland police. Dalits in the village said the three barbers in the village have refused to give haircuts to Dalit boys for several decades. Dalit leaders have vented their anger at the prevalence of such a discriminatory practice in the 21st century.