Mysore — A Dalit man was paraded naked, beaten badly and tied to a pole by upper caste villagers for allegedly entering a Hindu temple in Gundlupet village near Veeranapura Gate on Mysore-Ooty road of south India’s state of Tamil Nadu.
The incident took place on June 3 and the video went viral on the social media later on.
According to the family, the 35-year-old victim – a resident of Shyanadrahalli village – went to do civil services preliminary exam in Mysore on June 2, but he couldn’t reach the center on time and was turned away by the management. Being depressed, the victim returned home, however on the way he halted at Raghavapura village on Ooty road and spend a night there. By the next day, he went to the Kebbekatte Shani temple where he was questioned by the villagers.
After they came to know about his name and family, and he is a Dalit, they thrashed him, paraded him naked and tied him to a pole.
He is currently undergoing trauma treatment at St Mary’s Psychiatric, De-addiction and Rehabilitation Center in Mysore.
According to Gundlupet Police, villagers accused the victim of urinating on the idol, but a relative of the victim Kantharaj refuted the claims and said that the victim was preparing for the civil services exam, and he wasn’t mentally unsound.
“When the victim’s father, a retired block development officer, went to rescue him, the villagers had dressed him up and tied him to the pole … but he was mentally upset …. he was taken to the hospital in Mysore. A day later, we started getting videos of him getting paraded naked,” said Murthy, a friend of the victim.
