Beef attack comes to Karnataka: Dalits attacked in Chikkamagaluru

Chikkamagaluru, July 23: Four Dalit youths were attacked, allegedly by activists of the Bajrang Dal in a remote village in Chikkamagaluru, ostensibly for storing beef at home. The attack has come to light even as Gujarat is burning over a similar atrocity on Dalits in Una.

The Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum (KCHF) has alleged that a gang of 30-40 Bajrang Dal members barged into the house of a Dalit family on July 17, beat them up with sticks and threatened them with machetes. But the incident came to light only on July 23. The youths have sustained injuries and one's hand is fractured.

The victims' house is in Jayapura Heruru, Kundooru, a remote village in Koppa taluk.

Speaking to OneIndia, A. K. Ashok, general secretary of the KCHF, said, "Dalit youths, Balraj, Sandeep, Dhanu, Muttappa were attacked last Sunday by Bajrang Dal members who alleged that they were storing and eating beef at home".

The attackers left after brandishing machetes and warning Dalits that if they didn't stop eating beef, they would be killed.

Ashok alleged that Bajrang Dal activists Sampath and Manju had led the attack.

A local police station has registered a case under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015, after Dalit rights groups insisted that action must be taken against the attackers.

Ashok also alleged that Koppa MLA Jivraj is planning to hold a state-wide demonstration along with Bajrang Dal activists and that it would begin from Jayapura. The July 17 attack was in preparation for that, he said.

The KCHF will stage a protest in Jayapura demanding stern action against the attackers, he said.

OneIndia News