Barabanki,

11 July (HS): A 27-year-old Dalit man claims that the priest, along with family

members, stopped him from praying at the Lodheshwar Mahadev temple in this

area, beating him up and hurling casteist insults. However, the priest, Aditya

Tiwari, said that the guy groped his daughter-in-law and became aggressive when

he was stopped. Shailendra, a Dalit, was

admitted to the district hospital for treatment. Both sides have filed

complaints with the police. Anil Kumar Pandey, SHO of Ramnagar Police Station,

stated on Friday that the case is being probed.

Police will take action after reviewing CCTV video of the event inside

the temple and obtaining a statement from the temple priest.

In

his police complaint, Shailendra alleged that Akhil Tiwari, Shubham Tiwari, and

Aditya Tiwari prevented him from praying at the shrine. He said that the

accused prevented him from performing prayers by throwing casteist

insults.Police alleged that when the

Dalit man objected, they struck him with a vessel and a bell, citing his

complaint. Shailendra was taken to the community health center in Ramnagar

after being injured and thereafter sent to the district hospital in Barabanki. The

temple's priest, Aditya Tiwari, accused Shailendra of attempting to molest his

daughter-in-law. My son and daughter-in-law were praying.Meanwhile, Shailendra began assaulting my

daughter-in-law.When my son objected to

this, he began hitting and assaulting him.

I

was called by the SHO. I will go to the

police station and tell them the truth.

There is no connection to casteism, Tiwari explained, pointing out that

many of the sevadars are Dalits or belong to lower castes. The priest

maintained that lakhs of people from general and backward castes came to visit

during Sawan and Shivratri, and that no such complaints had ever been made.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi