What allegedly provoked the Vokkaliga men who brutally attacked 27-year-old Dalit man Anish Kumar and severed his arm was the mere act of him and his uncle walking on a village road.
The attack occurred on Sunday, July 21, in Malagalu village, Kanakapura taluk, 63 km from Bengaluru. Anish, who is from the Adi Karnataka community, is recovering in a hospital in Bengaluru. However, doctors have told the family that his arm can not be reattached.
Anish’s uncle Laxman, who attempted to intervene in the attack, was struck on the head with a weapon, and is now being treated at Kanakapura Government Hospital after initial care at NIMHANS in Bengaluru. The attack also left five other family members – Govindraju, Latha, Tejasvini, Chaitanya, and Madhu – with injuries.
Anish’s father Vairamudi is a former Zilla Panchayat president and a Congress member.
The attack
Around 7.30 pm on Sunday, a group of Vokkaliga men confronted Anish Kumar and his uncle Cheluvaraju who were walking on the village road. Anish’s aunt Manjula said that the men demanded to know why members of a lowered caste were standing in the middle of the road. “The men were intoxicated and started a verbal altercation with Anish and Cheluvaraju. They were outraged at the sight of them simply walking on the road,” she said.
Manjula continued, “The men went away after a while and the matter appeared to have ended there. But two hours later, a group of assailants, led by Harsha and Shivashankar, turned up with weapons at their house and hurled a slew of casteist abuses before attacking everyone.” During the attack, Anish’s forearm was severed by the Vokkaliga men, and he sustained deep slashes to his back.
Manjula said that they tried to get him to a hospital as early as possible so that doctors could reattach his arm. “First, we took Anish to the local hospital, but they referred him to Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru. There, they told us to go to a private hospital due to the severity of his injuries. The private hospital demanded exorbitant fees, and it was already four hours since the incident. The doctors there said that they couldn’t do anything to reattach his arm. We were then referred to St John’s Hospital on July 22, where he has been receiving treatment since.”
Following this, Anish’s cousin Latha filed a complaint leading to a police case against Harsha, Karunesha, Rahul, Shivashankar, Shashanka, Subba, Darshan, and others. While four accused were arrested on July 23, Harsha remains at large.
‘Not the first attack against a Dalit’
This isn’t the first time Vokkaligas have attacked Dalits in Malagalu village. “There have been other instances of caste violence here, but they never came to light. They [Vokkaligas] would either threaten us or force us into compromising to silence us,” she said.
She refused to talk about the previous instances of violence out of fear. “I have to go back and live there.”
Manjula said that the family is determined to ensure that the attackers are punished. “We can’t let this go. Today it happened to our son; tomorrow it could happen to someone else’s son. Anish is stable now, but this has been a harrowing experience for our family. We just want justice and safety,” she said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who represents the Kanakapura Assembly constituency, visited Anish and his family at the hospital. “He assured us of the government's support and has promised swift action against the attackers,” Manjula said.
The Social Welfare Department has given the family financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh and also assured the family of assistance and support.