In Marukumbi village of Karnataka’s Koppal district, folks from the Dalit neighborhood dwell on the suitable aspect of the primary street, and people from higher caste communities dwell on the opposite aspect.
This divide has turn out to be starker since a latest judgment in reference to a 2014 caste-related incident within the small village. The verdict has introduced a way of justice to the Dalits within the village, however for residents from either side, there’s additionally an anxiousness in regards to the future.
On October 24, a Koppal district and classes court docket sentenced 98 of the 101 accused to life imprisonment in reference to the 2014 case. The case stems from an August 29, 2014 incident during which three homes belonging to Dalit households within the village had been set on fireplace after an individual belonging to the Bhovi neighborhood (an higher caste among the many Scheduled Castes) was allegedly assaulted outdoors a film theatre. Throughout the ensuing riot, Dalits had been dragged out of their homes and assaulted. Over 30 folks had been injured within the incident, in line with the police.
In July 2015, simply days earlier than he was scheduled to provide a press release earlier than the court docket, the important thing witness within the case, Veeresh, was discovered useless. Police declared it a suicide.
Whereas delivering the judgment, choose C Chandra Sekar had noticed, “This matter seems to be a case of caste violence quite than an strange mob violence.”
The village, which has a inhabitants of 1,774, contains Madigas (Dalits), Muslims, Scheduled Tribes and Lingayats. An area resident advised The Indian Categorical that in almost all higher caste households within the village, there’s at the least one man who was convicted within the 2014 case.
Regardless of the police stationed alongside the primary street dividing the village, the Madigas quietly expressed their concern of a reprisal over the judgment. Pampathi, 48, from the Madiga neighborhood, says he’s pleased to be “lastly getting justice”. Pampathi was working in a subject owned by an higher caste household when his home was set on fireplace in 2014. “Fortunately, my spouse and youngsters had been unhurt,” he says.
For 2-three months after the incident, Pampathi and his household lived on the Ganji Kendra arrange by the administration at a neighborhood authorities faculty for all of the victims.
He admits that his happiness over the decision is overshadowed by worries for his future. “I work in fields owned by the higher castes. It’s my solely supply of livelihood. I don’t know for the way lengthy I’ll have this work. For the reason that verdict, the village appears divided as soon as once more. However what can we do? The legislation has taken its course,” he says.
Pampathi says untouchability remains to be prevalent within the space. “Madigas historically stitched slippers. Their (higher caste residents’) argument is that we don’t take slippers inside our home, so that you too ought to keep away.”
Panduranga, the one postgraduate from the village who additionally holds a PhD, is a sociology lecturer. A member of the Madiga neighborhood, he says, “After I was finding out, we (Madiga college students) had been made to sit down individually. Issues have modified, however not a lot. I nonetheless can’t enter the temples situated on the opposite aspect (the place the higher caste residents dwell) or get consuming water from their homes. Till just a few years in the past, I couldn’t even go to accommodations, tea stalls and barber retailers run by different communities,” he says.
Stating that the village has a “historical past of atrocities”, Basavaraj, additionally from the Madiga neighborhood, alleges, “In 2003, Dalits had been tied to poles and assaulted on the costs of stealing crops. Nothing occurred to the accused within the case. After the 2014 incident, an FIR was filed. For 3-four years, we had been boycotted — not simply right here, but in addition by close by villages. We needed to journey 12 km to Gangavathi to get groceries.”
Speaking about “compromise makes an attempt”, Basavaraj says, “A couple of years after our boycott, they (higher castes residents) realised that it was not working. The Madigas had been then allowed to purchase groceries within the village. On February 12-13 this yr, the higher caste residents organised and celebrated a temple honest in a Madiga space with us. Then, they requested us to withdraw the case. Nevertheless, we insisted on the legislation taking its personal course.”
Accusing a bit of the media of portraying the latest verdict as a “harsh” punishment, Dalit Sangarsha Samiti (DSS) Koppal district president Manjunath Dhoddamani says, “We welcome the judgment. Although the decision didn’t make nationwide headlines, we hope it would function a warning to the higher caste residents to deal with us as their equals.”
In the meantime, on the opposite aspect of the street within the village, shock and despair over the “unanticipated verdict” are writ massive on the faces of the convicts’ households. Pointing to the crops prepared for harvest, they mentioned the boys who had been speculated to be working within the fields are actually in jail.
On October 24, Ramanna Bhovi, 38, who was amongst these sentenced to life time period, died of a coronary heart assault hours after the decision. Locals imagine that Ramanna, who suffered from different illnesses, couldn’t bear the shock of the decision because the accused had already spent 48 days in jail after the 2014 incident.
Of the 5 males convicted from 70-year-old Sanna Mudiyappa’s household, one died three months in the past. Sanna says, “We didn’t comply with the court docket proceedings carefully. The lawyer too stored us at the hours of darkness. Many people thought that the 48 days we spent in jail (in 2014) was all of the punishment we might serve within the case.”
Lawyer Umesh Malekoppa, who represented the convicts, denied Sanna’s claims. “I’m in contact with all of the accused. We are going to problem the decision within the Karnataka Excessive Courtroom,” he provides.
Amaramma, the spouse of convict Sangamesh, says, “On Monday (October 21), he left the home saying the case was closed and that he was going to signal one thing. Then, we heard about his imprisonment from the information. I don’t even know what jeevavadhi punishment (life imprisonment) is. My youngsters have been asking about their father’s whereabouts, however I’ve no reply for them.”
5 males from Chennaveeraiah Swamy’s joint household had been convicted within the case. Swamy, the sixth accused, died in 2016 resulting from age-related illnesses. With all grownup males from the household in custody, the ladies have been grieving because the verdict.
Rudramma, an Anganawadi employee, is anxious because the arrests of her elder brother and son. “My niece’s marriage is developing and we don’t know what to do since her father is in jail.”
Parvathi, spouse of convict Nagashekaraiah, claims that her husband was not concerned within the 2014 incident. She says, “After the riots (in 2014), the police took the voters’ checklist to single out males belonging to non-Madiga castes.”
Stating that she gave delivery simply six months in the past, she wails, “He (Nagashekaraiah) left the home with the others saying the case was closed. Now they’re telling me that he won’t ever return house. If that’s the case, please ship me to jail so I can dwell with him there.”
