Inhuman treatment of 16 Dalit labourers in Karnataka: accused held hostage for 15 days, beat up

In Chikmagalur, Karnataka, a man named Jagadish Gowda has been accused of taking 16 Dalits hostage and treating them inhumanely. According to the police, a woman involved in these people had a miscarriage due to the beating. The woman is currently undergoing treatment at the district hospital.
A case has been registered against Jagadish Gowda and his son Tilak Gowda under SC-ST Act. Both the accused are absconding at present. According to media reports, both are BJP supporters and these labourers were working near them on the coffee plantation.
The BJP has distanced itself from the matter. The party spokesperson has rubbished the claims that Jagdish is a BJP member or leader. Varsiddhi Venugopal said, “Jagdish is neither a party worker nor a member. He is just a supporter. He is like any other voter.
According to the police, all these Dalit labourers used to work on daily wages at Jagdish's coffee plantation in Jenugadde village of Karnataka. He had taken a loan of Rs 9 lakh from Jagdish. When the labourers could not repay the loan, Jagdish took them hostage.
A senior police officer said that on October 8, some people came to the Belhonnur police station. He claimed that Jagadish Gowda was torturing his family members, but in the evening he withdrew his complaint.
The officer further said that the next day i.e. on October 9, the pregnant woman was admitted to the district hospital and a fresh complaint was lodged with the Chief of Police in Chikmagalur. This case was sent to us, then we registered an FIR.
The officer investigating the matter told that when he reached the coffee plantation, he found many people locked in a room there. At that place, 16 people from four families were imprisoned for 15 days. All these labourers belonged to the backward castes. The police pulled out all the people from there.
A woman named Arpita told that Jagdish kept her locked in the room for a day. They beat and abused them. Jagdish also snatched her phone. He also killed her husband and daughter. Not only this, Arpita was pregnant for two months, and she had a miscarriage due to the beating.
SP Uma Prashant of Chikmagalur Police said that according to the complaint filed by the families of the labourers, the labourers had borrowed money from Jagdish. Some labourers went to their homes with money, so Jagdish locked the rest in the lock.