A number of Dalit outfits demanded a stringent piece of legislation to protect inter-caste couples from attacks on the pretext of protecting ‘family honour’.
Visiting a Dalit family at Botlapalem near Darsi, allegedly harassed by an upper-caste family, a delegation of Kula Vivaksha Porata Sangam (KVPS) and Dalit Hakkula Porata Samiti (DHPS) leaders said incidents of Dalits marrying upper-caste women were not taken lightly. The attempt on the lives of Dalit family members of a man who had married an upper-caste woman was not an isolated one. It was part of a series of “honour crimes” across the State, including in Kurnool, Anantapur, Chittoor and Guntur, opined KVPS Andhra Pradesh general secretary A. Malyadri.
‘’A law with the provision to provide stringent punishments to upper-caste people who take the law into their own hands and resort to honour crimes, including murder, should be enacted forthwith,’‘ said DHPS state general secretary Karavadi Subba Rao.
Consoling the mother and sister of Sairam, who had fallen in love with an upper-caste woman from the same village and later married her, they said upper-caste men had been harassing the Dalit family for over six months and were putting pressure on them to withdraw a case registered after an attack on their house six months ago.
The young couple has been on the run since then as the bride’s parents exerted pressure on her to desert her husband even after she repeatedly made it clear that she would live with him come what may, they added.
Demanding a suitable compensation to the Dalit family, they said the government should also provide government job to a family member, a house site, pension and agricultural land to them to help them live with dignity.
The Chief Minister, the Minister for Social Welfare and District Collectors should periodically review all cases of atrocities against Dalits to instil confidence among the communities and prevent heinous crimes, added KVPS district secretary B. Raghuram.
Representation should be provided to all Dalit outfits working at the grassroots level in the district-level vigilance and monitoring committee, added Koppolu Subba Rao, another Dalit leader who visited the village.
