Karnataka’s shame: Humiliated by upper caste men, Dalit youth commits suicide

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: According to National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) 2020 report, every 10 minutes, a Dalit faces a crime. And as if this is not enough to prove the existing caste-based inequality even after celebrating the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a 22-year-old Dalit boy allegedly committed suicide after he was mercilessly beaten up by the ‘upper caste’ men in Mulbagal town of Kolar district.

The incident had reportedly taken place on Wednesday over a petty issue. A resident of Bevahalli in Mulbagal town, Uday Kiran, was riding towards Byrakur village in order to buy some groceries. According to sources from his hometown village, Kiran had allegedly overtaken one of the three motorcycles driven by the men claiming to be from ‘upper caste.’

“Angered at this, the bikers intercepted Kiran, allegedly assaulted him, and seized the bike and mobile phone from him,” sources from Bevahalli village said. The jurisdictional police later said that the accused were drunk. The accused persons took Kiran’s bike to Pethandahalli demanding that he come along with his elders to collect his belongings.

However, when Kiran took a shared autorickshaw to the place and requested that they hand over his bike and phone, the accused person tied him to a pole and started beating him. Sources from the village told News Trail that a few Gram Panchayat members learned of the incident and brought Kiran home around 8:30 pm.

“However, the young man left his house saying he would be back soon but did not return. The family started searching for him and was shocked to find his body hanging from a nearby tree around 10 pm here,” the sources informed. According to Nangali police, there were four accused identified as Raju, Shivaraju, Gopala Krishna and Muni Venkatappa, involved in the incident.

“We registered an FIR immediately after receiving the complaint. All the four accused are absconding and police teams are searching for them,” the police had said. The four were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 341 (wrongful restraint ), 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 323 (causing hurt) and 306 (Abetment of suicide) as well as provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, said Singh.

Following Kiran’s death, the villagers expressed disappointment towards the jurisdictional police officers alleging that it has become common that the offenders manage to escape the grip of the law by simply absconding. The local Dalit outfit had warned of severe agitation in the region of the police were unable to arrest the accused until Saturday