Wo-men In Temples

Widow Paraded Naked For Entering Temple

5 Apr 2008, 0322 hrs IST, Law Kumar Mishra, TNN

DHANBAD: A temple is said to be an abode of gods and the entry there is not "supposed to be restricted to anyone. But residents of a Dhanbad village" clearly did not think that should be the case.

A middle-aged widow from a backward community was paraded naked on the streets in Ranwatand village, 35 km from here, on Thursday because she had entered the village temple. Kalawati was meted out the punishment as the villagers felt "a widow has no right to enter a temple". She had also reportedly put vermilion on her forehead too, which was objected by village women.

The villagers held a "people's court" and decided to punish her.

The widow has named Jagannath Mahto, Sukhdeo Mahto, Sukar Mahto, Kailash Mahto, Bhola Mahto in the FIR and said they alongwith about 200 people prevented her from entering the temple, stripped her, put shoes around her neck and paraded her on village streets. They were shouting slogans alleging she practised witchcraft and was responsible for the outbreak of chicken pox in the village. The villagers alleged that Kalawati's "black magic" caused the death of a woman last week.

Kalawati alleged some people in the mob also tried to force-feed human excreta to her. They did not succeed in their attempt, though.

No one has been arrested so far.

Kalawati, widow of Narayan Kumhar, used to visit the Kali temple regularly, which was opposed by the village women. They also gheraoed Hariharpur police station, where the widow later filed an FIR against the accused, and also gheraoed Vinod Murmu, the O-C of the police station, who had gone to investigate the case on Friday.

The accused had been directed to appear before the police, but none of them turned up. Instead, the women marched to the police station and demonstrated against the FIR. The O-C said action would be taken against the villagers.

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Dalit Woman Beaten Up, Paraded Naked

Deep Joshi, Monday, July 28 1997

DEHRA DUN, July 27: A Dalit woman was beaten up and paraded naked by villagers in Kantari near Uttarkashi last fortnight for entering a temple where women are not allowed.

And instead of registering a case against the assaulters, the local administration ordered her arrest and put her in jail for two days for 'desecrating the temple.'

The woman, Atula Devi, is said to have gone to the temple in Kantari, 17 kilometres from her village, Srikot, to pray after repeated requests to get the wages for the repair works done by her husband Jadubir Singh at the temple were turned down by the villagers.

The villagers allegedly beat her, cut her hair and paraded her naked for 'desecrating the temple' of the snake god in Kantari where women are not allowed. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Purola sub-division, Jagdish Tripathi visited the spot and allowed the villagers to register a case against Atula. She was arrested and taken to the jail in Tehri.

Two days later, District Magistrate (DM) Uttarakashi, Narendra Nath Pandey sent the SDM Badkot, Anil Pathak, to the spot to 'undo the damage' caused by Tripathi's 'lapse'. Pathak ordered Atula's release and allowed her to file a First Information Report (FIR) under the Scheduled Castes Act. In the FIR, Atula said that the residents of Kantari cut her hair, beat her up and paraded her naked on the streets.

The local unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Dalit organisations have threatened to launch an agitation if the district administration failed to bring the guilty to book.

Top district administration officials felt that the 'tactless' handling of the incident by the SDM led to the problems.

"The problem would not have arisen had Tripathi not sent Antula to jail and had reminded her of her right to file a case against the villagers," said a top district official, who didn't want to be identified. Tripathi was not available for comment.

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MY COMMENTS:

Laddu, can you see the down-side of visiting idols that represent demonic forces?

Repent NOW!