Alleging harassment by BJP MLA Nehru Olekar’s son, four Dalits attempted to end their lives at Shidenur village in Byadgi taluk of Haveri district on Wednesday and are being treated at district hospital in Davanagere.
Pandappa Lamani (70), Guruchappa Lamani (72), Gangavva Kabbur (65) and Hanumanthappa Badiger (41) who collapsed after consuming poison in their fields are now being treated at Davanagere.
They are said to be out of danger. The Dalit families in the village have also alleged that MLA’s son Manjunath Olekar was pressurising them to part with a part of their land, which was granted to them by the government. There are 29 Dalit families in the village which are involved in ‘Akrama Sakrama cultivation’ and were granted 1.15 acres of land each in 2007.
Meanwhile, MLA Olekar has denied the allegation saying that he himself was involved in granting the land to the Dalit families and has blamed Congress leader S.R. Patil of instigating the Dalit families against him.
However Mr S.R. Patil has denied the charges and said that he had advised the families to approach tahsildar seeking solution.
Condemning the incident, former minister and Congress leader Rudrappa Lamani has said that any injustice to downtrodden communities would not be tolerated.
This article first appeared on thehindu.com