A person belonging to an ‘upper caste’ and his son allegedly assaulted a Scheduled Caste youth for staring at them at Malenahalli in Belur taluk of Hassan district in Karnataka. The alleged incident took place on March 30. A case was registered by Belur police on April 4.
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M.S. Sunil Kumar, 30, a Scheduled Caste youth, was taking his cattle to the veterinary hospital at Hanike village on March 30 when Chandre Gowda and his son Lokesh followed a few feet behind him with their cattle. One of the animals belonging to Chandre Gowda abruptly ran towards Sunil. Shaken by the incident, Sunil turned back and stared at the father and son angrily.
“I just stared at them. They felt offended by my look and started scolding me citing my caste. When I wanted to know why they were bringing up my caste, they hit me with sticks,” Sunil alleged. He suffered a cut on his forehead, leading to bleeding. He was rushed to the government hospital in Belur.
Sunil filed a complaint with Belur police the same day against Lokesh, 45, and Chandre Gowda, 70. However, a few people in the village tried to convince him not to get the complaint registered. But a few senior police officers intervened and ensured that the case was registered.
The case has been registered as per the SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, besides relevant sections of the IPC.