Karnataka: Dalit woman dragged, beaten at temple; video surfaces

Bengaluru: A video of a woman being kicked, dragged and beaten with sticks in a temple in Bengaluru surfaced and has gone viral on social media.

The victim Hemavathi had lodged a complaint with Amruthahalli police station stating that the said incident occurred on December 21 and the accused is Munikrishna, ‘dharamdarshi’ of the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Amruthahalli locality, police said on Friday.

The video shows the woman being repeatedly slapped, held by the hair and dragged outside. The accused can be seen beating her with stick even as she runs for cover.

A case under Section 354 of the IPC has been registered against Munikrishna.

However, Munikrisha told police that the woman claimed that Lord Venkateshwara was her husband and wanted to sit next to the idol in the sanctum sanctorum. When her demand was rejected, she spit on the priest after which she was asked to leave. As the woman did not listen, she was beaten and dragged out, he told the police.