3 booked for casteist remarks at Dalit man for entering temple

Dehradun: Three men from Dehradun have been charged for allegedly hurling casteist slurs at a 35-year-old Dalit man for entering a temple in Vikasnagar area and threatening to kill him if he was seen on the temple premises again.
Although the incident occurred on the morning of August 15, it only came to light after the Dalit man (name withheld for security reasons) lodged a complaint on Sunday evening, based on which a case was registered under relevant sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and BNS at Vikasnagar police station.The complainant alleged, “On August 15, when I was working at Gangbhewa Bawdi temple as a ‘sewadar’ and cleaning the temple, three men -- Girish Dalakoti, Vipin Panwar and Praveen Sharma -- all residents of Vikasnagar, arrived at 7am and asked me what am I doing while hurling casteist expletives. They also said that people of my community are not allowed to enter the temple, forced me to leave and threatened to kill me if I was seen there again.”
Deputy superintendent of police (Vikasnagar), Bhaskar Lal Shah, said that he is yet to question the accused. “The case was only registered on Sunday and assigned to me on Monday. We would soon record the statements of the complainant and then summon the accused for questioning. Appropriate action would be taken in accordance with the law,” said Shah.