Karnataka: Upper caste man poisons water in well used by Dalits

Kalaburagi: Barbers refuse to cut their hair in some villages of the state and now it is suspected Dalits of a village in Jewargi taluk here are being stopped from drinking water from a well by the upper castes, who have allegedly poisoned it to keep them at bay.  

Chairman of the Karnataka State Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Commission, A Muniyappa, who visited the village on Thursday to check the reports of poisoning that surfaced about a week ago, ordered the district administration to take possession of the well.

Although the well is on a farm owned by a  Dalit, Amalappa Maang, the land was leased to an upper caste villager, Gollalappagowda Kukanur, four years ago.

One local villager, Doulappa Hosamani,  claims that ever since the land was leased out, some people have tried almost every trick in the book  to stop the Dalits from drawing water from the well on it.

It was on August 31 that a Dalit, Mahantappa, found an oily substance floating on the surface of the water  in the well when he went  to draw  from it and warned others not to use it.

Jewargi taluk tahsildar,  Ellappa Subedar , when contacted, said that a team was deployed to empty the well and the taluk health department, which had collected a  water sample  for testing, had found it to be contaminated with the banned pesticide, Endosulfan.  But the police has still not received a report from the Forensic Science Laboratory on the contents of the water.

Besides a case of attempt to murder, a case has been filed under  the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the upper caste villager,  Gollalappagowdam who had leased the land with the well based on a complaint filed by the villagers at the Jewargi police station.

The villagers even claim  that they have found carcasses of dogs, cats and even snakes deliberately thrown into the well in the past to prevent Dalits from drawing water from it and using it.