Three members of an upper caste family were booked for allegedly hurling casteist slurs at a Dalit man outside a temple in Mumbai’s Malad West.
The 45-year-old victim’s complaint claims that the verbal abuse took place on June 28 at the Omkareshwar Mahadev Temple in Malwani.
According to IE, the victim and the temple trust head, Mithilesh Singh, were putting up a No Parking sign near the temple premises, when local resident Sonu Upadhyay began to hurl slurs at the complainant.
“The accused Upadhyay family has been misbehaving with him for a long time. We were putting a no-parking board outside the temple when Sonu Upadhyay and his parents abused the complainant,” Singh alleged in his complaint.
Sonu’s parents, Omkarnath and Parvati Upadhyay, too joined in on the verbal assault, further questioning the complainant’s presence at the temple on the basis of his caste background.“Such a casteist and discriminatory act is shameful. We are in the 21st century,” said the complainant.
The complainant claimed that their anger is rooted in the opening day puja of the temple, which was performed by a Dalit family. The abuse is the latest in a series of abuse he has suffered from the Upadhyay clan.
“Four years ago, when the temple was being constructed, people from all communities and religions came together and worked for it. Since a Harijan family performed puja on the opening day of the temple, the Upadhyay family has been upset over this,” added the victim in his complaint.
Omkareshwar Mahadev temple foundation president Mithilesh Singh told reporters that the victim frequents the temple, performing voluntary services as well.
A case has been filed against the Upadhyay family in connection with the same under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (BNS) as well as the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
According to the IE report, family patriarch Omkareshwar Upadhyay, however, claimed that all members of the family were innocent of the allegations put forward by the complainant. Claiming that the agitation in reality “erupted over a parking issue”, Upadhyay said, “None from my family used any casteist words against him. We have the video evidence to support our claims. When the police call us, we will produce it before them.”
