Inter-caste couple face boycott in Tumkur village

Tumakuru: An incident of inter-caste married couple being boycotted by the upper caste community has been reported from Koragere village in Chikkanayakanahalli taluk of Tumkur district. The couple have been married for 14 years.

A complaint has been submitted to Superintendent of Police of Tumkur district, Rahul Kumar Shahapurwad, on Saturday in this regard by the harassed couple -- Nagaraju and Shashikala. "The SP has assured us that he would visit the village and address the problem in two days," Shashikala said.

Koragere village residents Nagaraju and Shashikala, the persecuted couple, got married in 2007 after falling in love, against the wishes of their families. Nagaraju belonged to a lower caste.

After marriage, the couple lived in the same village. Both husband and wife worked as labourers and grew crops in their small patch of agricultural land. After years of toil, they built a house and managed to develop their agricultural land.

A few people from the upper caste community who could not bear to see that the woman belonging to their community is living with a backward caste husband, started troubling them. The group picked up a fight with Nagaraju and assaulted him for no reason. The villagers have also boycotted the couple for a week.

Shashikala explained that though she had tried to approach Huliyar, Chikkanayakanahalli and Tiptur police stations in this regard, there was no result. "Ours is inter-caste marriage. We have two sons and are leading our lives without troubling others. If we are boycotted, how can we live? District administration should come to our help," she said.

Nagaraju said that he lived in the village peacefully for 14 years. The villagers have suddenly started harassing him for no reason, he added.