Kendrapada: A 44-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday in Jagatsinghpur district for allegedly preventing at least eight dalit women from entering a temple in Atimiti village under Erasama police station and attacking them with a sharp weapon on Monday. One of the women also suffered injuries to her hands.Accused Satyanarayan Routray was produced in court, which rejected his bail application and remanded him in judicial custody, said inspector in charge (IIC) of Earsama police station, Partha Pratim Beura.A video of the incident purportedly showing accused Satyanarayan Routray, who belongs to an upper caste, assaulting and abusing the dalit women also went viral, trigerring tension in the village and nearby areas.An FIR was lodged against Routray of Atimiti village by the women, including Kunilata Mallik, Tukuni Mallick and Chabilata Gochayat on Tuesday, alleging that they were assaulted solely because they belonged to the dalit community. The accused was arrested under sections 190, 296 (b), 115 (2), 118 (2), 351 (3), 352, 74, 75 (2) and 3 (5) of BNS, and sections 3(1) (r) (s) (za) (B) and 3 (2) (va) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 , said Beura.To safeguard the dalit people’s rights and defuse tensions, police, in the presence of other officials, ensured that they were able to complete their ‘darshan’ at the temple.“Under the Constitution, everyone has the right to enter temples and public places. No one should take the law into their own hands. We have been closely monitoring the situation in the village. Police have been deployed in the village to avoid any untoward incident. Everything is under control as of now. We are investigating the case,” said the police officer.
