Man arrested for ‘purifying’ tank with cow urine after Dalit woman drank water

Karnataka: A 62-year-old man has been arrested in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district under the stringent Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly draining out water from a public tank and “purifying” it with cow urine after a Dalit woman drank water from it. Mahadevappa, the accused, has been sent to judicial custody.

The woman, Shivamma, drank water on November 18 from the tank in an upper-caste locality in the Heggatora village and prompted Mahadevappa to allegedly “purify” it. Officials rushed to the village to inquire into the matter as a video of the “purification” went viral on social media.

Shivamma, who is from Saragur in HD Kote taluk, on Tuesday told the media she visited Heggatora for a wedding. “After lunch, I had water from the tank before boarding a bus.”

Shivamma said when she was drinking water, a man asked her about her caste and told her not to drink water after he learnt she is Dalit.

IE Basavaraju, the local tehsildar, was among the officials who visited the village and told villagers the water tank is a public property and everyone



could drink water from it. Basavaraju also accompanied over 20 Dalits to public drinking water taps in the village to drink water.

“There are no other social issues in the village. The people are living in harmony with each other. But there will be some prejudiced people and the accused in this case is one such person. He is the only person involved in this and no one else,” Basavaraju said.

He said they met all the officials concerned and told Dalits about how to lodge a complaint if such incidents re-occur. “We have also put up boards saying that the water tanks are public property and everyone is free to use them.”

“There are no other social issues in the village. The people are living in harmony with each other. But there will be some prejudiced people and the accused in this case is one such person. He is the only person involved in this and no one else,” Basavaraju said.

He said they met all the officials concerned and told Dalits about how to lodge a complaint if such incidents re-occur. “We have also put up boards saying that the water tanks are public property and everyone is free to use them.”