Dalit artist alleges caste-related abuse and assault on demand for remuneration pending for three years, FIR lodged with police.
Bengaluru – A case has been registered against Kannada and Culture Department Director K.M. Gayatri under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (BNS). The action came after a Dalit artist complained that he was abused on caste-related grounds and behaved indecently on demand for pending payments.
This complaint was lodged by 55-year-old Jogila Siddaraju at SJ Park Police Station in Bengaluru. According to Siddaraju, he had gone to the director’s office to get the remuneration of a group of artists pending for the last three years released. The complaint states that during the conversation, when the director came to know about his caste, the atmosphere deteriorated.
Siddraju alleged that when he threatened to report the matter to higher authorities, Gayatri threw a computer mouse pad at him and also snatched the mobile phone of his colleague, who was trying to record the incident.
The complaint also said that the director used casteist slurs against him, which caused him humiliation and mental agony. Police have registered an FIR under several sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and sections of the BNS that deal with voluntarily causing hurt and insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace.
Police officials said a detailed investigation into the case was underway. There was no public response from KM Gayatri till the time of writing the report.
Rajan Chaudhary
Courtesy : Hindi News