TUMAKURU: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met a Dalit family met with the Dalit family on Sunday who had been fined Rs 60,000 for touching a village deity in the Malur taluk of Kolar.
Rahul Gandhi talked with the family, comforting them for going through a horrific experience of "untouchability" and expressing his concern about the injustice.
The family was invited to Tumakuru district where the Rahul Gandhi scion is leading the padayatra from Kolar. Karnataka police had detained 6 persons for charing a fine of Rs 60,000 on the boy's family.The incident happened on September 8 in the Kolar district's Ullerahalli village, close to Malur.
After this incident, the elders of the village had asked the boy's mother to mange for Rs60,000 to re-organise the procession as her son had touched the deity's sacred pole. In addition, they threatened to boycott her family if the fine wasn't paid.
The authorities initially ignored the incident until taking action later on. They removed the lock from the temple and gave Dalit families access to the deity, as well as the promise of government land for the family in question.
This morning, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is on its third day, resumed from Pochkatte in the Tumakuru district. After passing through the districts of Chamarajanagar, Mysuru, Mandya, and Tumakuru today, it will enter Chitradurga. In the midst of severe security, the padayatra will pass through the Chitradurga district towns of Hiriyuru, Challakere, and Molakalmuru.
Nine platoons of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and seven platoons of the District Reserve Police (DAR) have been deployed, under the direction of the Superintendent of Police, to ensure that no untoward incident occurs during Rahul Gandhi's padyatra.
Highway vehicular travel has been prohibited in the Chitradurga district, and substitute arrangements have been created.
Bharat Jodo Yatra resumes from Tumakuru today
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