Hemanath Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SM)
Udupi, Sep 27: The members of the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti staged a day-long protest in front of the SP's office here on Thursday September 27 seeking justice in the Gaurish death case.
It may be recalled that Gaurish was found dead at Hoige Thota pond on September 13 along with Sangeetha, who had gone missing on September 11. On the day Sangeetha, wife of Sathish Poojary went missing, Gaurish was called to Sathish's house, and two days later, the bodies of Gaurish and Sangeetha were found, with their hands tied and with marks on the bodies.
The members of Dalit Sangharsha Samiti alleged that Sathish Poojary and his friends were involved in Gaurish's death. "Even after 15 days of the incident, the exact reason for the death is not known nor has Sathish Poojary been taken into custody," they said.
"Deceased Gaurish was a dance master and owned a gym. He was said to be decent and a calm person. Sangeetha and Gaurish were earlier working for an electrical shop and had been good friends. Their relationship was not acceptable to Sathish and Gaurish who belonged to the Dalit community was killed. Gaurish’s family wants justice," the protestors said.
"The police seems to be ignorant when the issue is related to Dalits. Earlier too many murder cases were closed without taking any action. Police and the officials concerned have enough evidence to prove that it is a murder, but no action is taken," they claimed.
A memorandum will be forwarded to the home minister, minister in-charge, MLA Udupi district, social welfare ministry, human rights ministry, SP, and the president of Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, Bangalore.
Sunder Master, state committee member, Sunder Gujjarabettu, district convener, Shyamrai Birthi, Manjunath Uppoor, Shankardas and Shivram Bairampalli and other Dalit members were present during the protest.