High tension prevailed in Haramaghatta village in Karnataka on Thursday, after a group of caste-Hindus allegedly assaulted Dalits.
The incident happened on Thursday evening, during a special puja being conducted at the Anjaneya temple as part of Bhoomi Hunnime.
According to The Hindu, trouble broke out when a group of Dalit youths held a procession to the temple, and proceeded to garland the deity. Some people of the caste-Hindu communities reportedly objected to the usage of sound system and also prevented them from garlanding the deity.
This was followed by the caste-Hindus allegedly assaulting the Dalits. The issue did not end there. They later entered a Dalit colony and caused havoc by ransacking a shop run by a Dalit, it is alleged. According to a police complaint, they also tore off a poster of BR Ambedkar and three Dalit youths were reportedly injured in the assault.
Following this, the police booked 15 persons were booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 504 (intentional insult with intention to provoke breach of peace) of IPC.