Dalit family fined Rs23,000 after son enters temple in Karnataka

A Dalit family in southern state of Karnataka was fined Rs23,000 after their two-year-old son entered a Hanuman temple to seek blessings of the deity.

According to media reports, the boy was taken to the temple by his father on his birthday but they didn’t enter inside since Dalits are not allowed into the temple, they pray standing outside.

The boy, however, could not hide his excitement and entered inside the temple, thus earning the ire of the upper caste villagers who held a meeting over the issue and imposed a fine of Rs23,000 on the family for “desecrating” the temple.

“I myself visited the spot after getting information. The people from upper caste themselves opposed the action of the members of their own community and apologized to the Dalit boy’s family,” local Superintendent of Police T Sridhar told IANS.