TEMPLE PRIEST HELD FOR DALIT’S MURDER IN RAJASTHAN VILLAGE

A temple priest at a village in Dausa district of Rajasthan allegedly murdered a Dalit man Ramphool purportedly for answering the call of nature at some distance from the place of worship.

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June 23, 2022

A temple priest at a village in Dausa district of Rajasthan allegedly murdered a Dalit man Ramphool purportedly for answering the call of nature at some distance from the place of worship. The priest, known for his caste biases, used to misbehave with Dalits and would not allow them to enter the temple or worship there, an English daily said. Hanuman Das, priest of the Hanuman temple in Khartala Nayawas village, allegedly killed 35-year-old Ramphool Koli with a scimitar after verbally abusing him on October 25. He also mutilated the victim’s body and disfigured his face. The priest had been living in the Dalit-dominated village, 22 km from the district headquarters, for five years and had himself built the temple on a piece of government land. Later he encroached upon adjacent government land and is said to be illegally occupying the 25-bigha plot of land. Police have arrested Hanuman Das after registering a case against him under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3(2) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The accused has been remanded to police custody. A fact-finding team of the Jaipur-based Centre for Dalit Rights (CDR), which visited Khartala Nayawas after the murder over the weekend, alleged that the police are now trying to weaken the case by diluting its caste angle. The case under the SC/ST Act did not mention that the Dalit victim was killed as a result of untouchability practised by the priest.