Tank Cleaned With Cow Urine In Karnataka After Dalit Woman Drinks Water
A water tank in a Karnataka village was drained and ‘purified’ with cow urine by so-called upper caste residents after a Dalit woman allegedly drank water from its tap.
On November 18, a woman from a Scheduled Caste drank water from a drinking water tank in a neighbourhood where members of so-called upper castes resided while she was attending a wedding ceremony in the Heggotara hamlet in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district. Outraged, they emptied the tank of all its water and cleaned it with gau mutra, or cow urine, which is revered by some.
The water tank was cleaned, but I can’t confirm if it was with gau mutra,” IE Basvaraj, the local jurisdictional Tahseeldar told, adding that no one had seen the woman drinking water from the tank, and she hasn’t been traced so far.
“We are trying to identify and locate her. Once it happens, we will file a case (of discrimination),” Mr Basvraj said.
The community has a number of tanks with signs saying that anyone can use them to get water to drink. The local government forced a number of villagers from the Dalit and Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities to drink water from all the tanks.
He claimed that the Tahseeldar will now submit a thorough report to the District Collector for further action.
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