Woman paraded naked in Bellary district

bellary: a 40-year-old harijan woman, eramma, was paraded naked at vanenur in bellary district on sunday evening for allegedly supporting a love affair, much against the wishes of a certain community. the village suddenly slid into tension when eramma was stripped and made to walk a kilometre. the atrocious act went on for two hours. the harijans, who shrunk back from offering any humane support the hour so needed, were scared of the valmikis, the majority community.the valmiki girl had eloped with the harijan boy and they returned after a couple of days. it is said the girl, ``under pressure'', told her community people that eramma had prompted them into eloping and offered all the help they needed. for a village that always teeters on the fringe of communal clashes, the girl's narration provided the much-needed spark to pounce on the harijans. the valmikis hunted for eramma all over the village and finally spotted her working in the fields. they dragged her, beat her up and stripped her. her daughter, who tried to help the hapless mother, was also half-stripped. the police rushed to the village immediately. eight valmikis have been arrested. dalit organisations have condemned the incident and are preparing to fight the atrocity. one dalit leader said the `real criminal' was roaming around freely in the village and the arrests serve no purpose. it may be recalled that two lovers were hanged to death by their kith and kin in a uttar pradesh village recently.