Daijiworld Media Network - Kalaburagi
Kalaburagi, Jul 9: The Kalaburagi police have arrested the parents of a 10-year-old girl and the priest of Sammavva temple in Chittapur taluk, for forcing the child to become a Devadasi.
The girl, who was pushed into the banned Devadasi system five years ago, was rescued in June this year after the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) received a tip-off.
In 2013, the girl was suffering from chronic illness and her parents had approached Sammavva temple priest Sharanappa, who suggested that the girl becomes a Devadasi.
A small ritual was held and the priest tied a Mangalsutra to the girl, inducting her into the Devadasi system. The 70-year-old priest has confessed to the police that he has been performing Devadasi ritual for the past forty years and has initiated more than 1,000 girls into the system. The priest claimed that he gets possessed by Goddess Samavva who tells him which girl in the village should be made a Devadasi. The priest says he only conveys the “divine suggestions” to parents.
The rescue operation took place in June with coordinated efforts from Kalaburagi District Child Welfare Committee, Child Helpline and officials of the Department of Women and Child Development. The rescued girl has been rehabilitated in a government girls' home and will be admitted in a government-run residential school.
The Minister for Women and Child Welfare Umashree is said to have obtained a report regarding the incident from the District Child Protection Committee officer on July 8.
"Even though the system is eradicated under the Karnataka Devadasi (Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982, it is secretly followed in some parts of the State," says CWC member Vittal Chikkani, who was also a part of the rescue operation.
FIR against teachers
The girl was studying in Mavinsoor village government school but had dropped off after becoming a Devadasi. The CWC members alleged that primary schoolteachers, Salma and Sridevi were aware of the incident but failed to alert the police.
On the directions of the Kalaburagi deputy commissioner Ujwal Kumar Ghosh, an FIR has been filed against the teachers under ‘dereliction of duty by public servants’. He has also asked The Devadasi Nirmoolana Samiti to submit a report regarding the prevalence of the practice in various parts of the state.
Devadasi literally means Servant of God. As per this system, which is eradicated in Karnataka, a young girl is ceremoniously married to the deity. On attaining puberty, the girl is sent with a man who promises to take care of her. However, the girl is not married off to the man, since she has "offered" herself to the deity. Many girls who are part of the system have been subjected to sexual abuse.