Karnataka: Dalit family forced by temple to pay for kin’s cremation, refunded

The police on Monday helped a family belonging to a scheduled caste (SC) community get the money back, which they were forced to pay to the temple authorities in Chikkaballapura district for cremating one of their members.

This comes a day after videos of a SC woman’s cremation allegedly being halted in Gauribidanur because her family had allegedly failed to fulfil a temple “donation requirement”, went viral.

According to the police, the deceased, Hanumakka (55), who belongs to the Adi Karnataka community, passed away on Saturday night in the 26th ward of Gotakanapur in Gauribudanur taluk. Following this, the temple authorities insisted the family to pay ₹25,000 to the Satyamma deity temple in Gotakanapura before permitting the cremation to proceed.

The police said that the “cremation charges” imposed by the temple authorities on the Adi Karnataka community was ₹3,000. However, this deceased’s family was being asked for ₹25,000 as they had failed to return the amount, which was part of a chit fund, to the priest.

Despite pleas from the bereaved family, citing financial constraints, the temple authorities stood firm on their demand. Consequently, the cremation was delayed until noon on Sunday, causing further distress to the grieving relatives, the police said.

They further said that the family managed to arrange a loan of ₹3,000 to pay to the temple authorities after which they were granted permission to proceed with the cremation. The police quoted Manjula (32), deceased’s daughter, as questioning the validity of such practices and lamented the financial burden placed on families during times of mourning.

Gauribidanur tahsildar Mahesh Metri said: “The temple had been demanding ₹3,000 from every family in Adi Karnataka community for digging the pit and other expenses of cremation.”

On Monday, circle inspector Sathyanarayana and social welfare officer Channappa visited the spot, convened a meeting of elders, and made them return ₹3,000 to the family.

“The graveyard land in the village has been provided by the government, hence, no one should pay anybody for using it.” Metri added.