A 50-year old dalit man was assaulted  for entering a temple at Risidi village in Bajhang district.

The incident took place on the early morning of September 5 when the victim, Lal Singh Agri, entered a local Durga temple to take shelter from the cold after spending the night outdoors. He was there to attend a local festival.

According to Agri, he was captured by some locals belonging to the so-called upper caste and was tortured for hours, because he, a dalit man, had set his foot inside the shrine. 

Agri’s torturers also allegedly threatened to feed him human faeces and make him have sex with his sisters as penitence for the sin of desecrating the shrine, said a report by Samata Foundation and Jagaran Media Centre, the organisations that advocate for dalit rights.

He was finally released after he was made to pay Rs 2,000 and 1 ana of gold.

The dalit rights defenders are preparing to file a case against the persons involved in the incident on the charges of caste-based discrimination and attempt to murder .

Padam Sundas, chairperson of Samata Foundation, said cases related to caste discrimination do not get enough attention as they would like from law enforcement agencies.

Around 90 percent of the cases related to caste discrimination do not get to court because they are not taken as crime in the first place, Sundas said, adding that most of the cases are settled outside the court.

With Risidi incident, the dalit rights activists want to make out a case for why the state must deal with the cases of caste discrimination strongly.