Dalit man accuses upper caste men of assaulting him for touching arati plate

RAMANAGARA: Upper caste men allegedly assaulted a Dalit man for touching the arati plate during a village fair at Hemapura in Magadi taluk recently.

Manjunath, who works with an NGO in Bengaluru, had visited his village for the village deity fair. His hand accidentally touched an arati plate being brought by some upper caste people to offer arati to the village deity.

Manjunath was allegedly assaulted after his hand touched the arati plate being carried by some upper caste men.

An argument broke out over this and three men, identified as Lokesh, Deepak and Venkatesh allegedly assaulted Manjunath badly. The three men are absconding since then. “They tore up my clothes and kicked me. I filed a complaint, but the FIR was registered only three days later”, Manjunath said.

Following the assault, Manjunath was admitted to a local hospital. An FIR was registered at the Kudur police station and the police are on the lookout for the alleged attackers.