Hyderabad: A 26-year-old Dalit man was beaten up by Shiva devotees in the presence of policemen on January 31. The incident happened in Devanoor village of Vikarabad district.
According to reports, members of the Kula Nirmulana Porata Samiti (KNPS), which translates to “Action group for the annihilation of caste”, and a few individuals from the Dalit community planned to install the statue of Dr. B R Ambedkar in Devanoon village.
This idea was opposed by a group of Shiva devotees, who were allegedly backed by the right-wing organisation the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Soon an argument took place between the Dalit community and the Shiva devotees. As they argued, one of the devotees interrupted and was soon shut down by the Dalit man named Naresh, who told the former to keep away from the discussion as he was under deeksha.
This angered the Shiva devotee. He straight away went to the police station and lodged a complaint against Naresh alleging defiling.
He was summoned to the station by the police. However, things got out of hand when the station was surrounded by a large number of Shiva devotees who started attacking the lone Dalit man.
As some policemen tried to rescue him, they were outnumbered and pushed aside. Naresh is currently undergoing treatment.
An FIR has been lodged against nine persons – Bodka Narender, Narender, Bodka Ganesh, Aravind Goud, Vadde Shiva Kumar, Mohan Chary, Neeturi Venkatesh, J Buggappa, and T Balraj.
