Madhya Pradesh: Man arrested for banning entry of Dalits in temple

Image used for representational purpose. Pic/iStock

A man has been arrested for allegedly putting up a board stating that Dalits were not allowed inside a temple built on a piece of land belonging to him at a village in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Thursday, reported PTI.

The incident took place on Wednesday at Lohri village under Kukshi tehsil, about 120 km from the district headquarters, a police officer said.

The man, Prahlad Vishwakarma, has built a temple on his land and put up a board near it stating that the place of worship was not a public property but a private one, Additional Superintendent of Police Devendra Patidar said.

"Dalits are strictly forbidden from entering the temple", read the board put up by him, Patidar said.

He said members of the Dalit community and Bhim Army activists staged a sit-in near the temple to protest against the "ban".

Upon getting information, the Kukshi police swung into action and reached the spot and held dialogue with the protesters to broker peace, the ASP said.

Vishwakarma was booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and arrested, he said. The accused later publicly apologized for his act and pulled down the board, said the police officer.

There have been scores of incidents of discrimination or violence against Dalits in India. Recently, in June 2023, a Dalit man was abused and beaten up allegedly by seven people from an upper caste community who were displeased with him for dressing up, police said. When he (victim) was standing outside a temple, six of the accused from the Rajput community came towards him. Armed with sticks, they asked him why he was dressed up and wore sunglasses. They then thrashed and dragged him behind a dairy parlour. When his mother rushed to save him, they assaulted her as well. They even tore her clothes, the police said, citing the complaint. Police have filed an FIR under relevant sections of IPC and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Police arrested seven people in connection to the incident.

On July 7, Mid-day reported that the Mandvi police station in Virar East received a case of gang-rape and bonded labour. The 28-year-old survivor, a mother of two, belongs to the primitive Katkari tribal community and is a native of Raigad district. She claimed she was raped by nearly one dozen men including the owner of a charcoal manufacturing unit at Phaltan in Satara district. The police are verifying her claims and at the time of going to press, were in the process of recording her statement.

(With inputs from PTI)