Dalit Sangharash Samitigala Ikya Horata Chalana Samiti has said that the Jewargi Police have obtained “false statements” from a victim’s family members putting them under duress in an attempt to portray the case of a 31-year-old Dalit man, who ended his life at Gounalli village in Jewargi taluk of Kalaburagi district after being harassed and assaulted by private moneylenders, as a case of death due to snakebite.
Samiti president Arjun Bhadre, addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, said that the victim, Basavaraj Jivanagi, a resident of Gounalli village, borrowed ₹5,000 loan from a local resident, Shekarappa Pujari, in July last year. Later, the moneylender forced Jivanagi to repay the loan amount totalling ₹43,000, including an exorbitant interest totalling ₹38,000, for a year (in June 2023).
Unable to bear the constant torture and threat from Shekarappa Pujari, Jivanagi hanged himself to death at his house on June 20 this year.
