In a historic judgment on 21st October, 2024, the Sessions Court has convicted 101 persons in a 10-year old caste atrocity case in Marakumbi village, in Koppal district of Karnataka. The Court has ordered life imprisonment to 98 dominant caste persons for offences punishable under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and five years’ imprisonment to the remaining 3 persons.  The bare facts of this gruesome atrocity is that on 28th August 2014, the convicted persons, allegedly angered by a squabble between youth from the dominant caste and Dalit community, at a theatre in the nearby town of Gangavathi earlier in the day, gathered in the centre of Marakumbi village, and barged into Dalit houses, hurled casteist abuses, physically assaulted atleast 36 Dalit men and women, burnt down 5 houses and damaged several more. The social reality leading to this day though paints a picture of a dominant caste indignation at a Dalit assertion in the village.

Marakumbi is a small caste-segregated village located in Gangavathi taluk of Koppal district in Karnataka. This district, along with the other backward districts of Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Ballari and Vijayanagara in the northern part of Karnataka constitute, what is known as the Kalyana Karnataka region of the state. This is considered the state’s most backward regions with the Nanjundappa Committee revealing that these districts are most deprived and rank lowest on socio-economic and human development indices. It is this backwardness of the region that led to it receiving special status in the form of Article 371-J that was introduced in the Constitution in 2021. This mandated special provisions for Kalyana Karnataka, including establishment of a separate development board for the region, ensuring equitable opportunities and facilities for the region's people in public employment, reservation of seats in educational institutions and state government posts. Even so the region remains backward, with the conditions of Dalits and other socially and economically oppressed communities being even more abysmal.

Koppal district, as most districts in this region, is notorious for its deeply divided caste divided communities, and the institutionalizing of caste segregation and atrocities in the quotidian. Dalits live in, what-is-called a “keri”, a separate locality outside the “main” village. This spatial caste segregation is adhered to strictly. This is not the sole entrenched manifestation of caste in the village. Dalits are not permitted to enter into the hotel in the village; it has a separate enclosure meant only for them. Plastic cups are used to serve coffee/tea, and there are two jugs for serving water, one reserved for Dalits. Dalits are not allowed into the village temple, but are “allowed” to stand outside for worship, though this too is occasionally denied as per the whims and fancies of the dominant communities. Dalit boys and men are not entertained in the village barber shop who reserves his services only for the dominant communities. Dalits are not allowed into the houses of the dominant castes. The touch of Dalits is still not allowed by sections of the dominant caste communities. There has been some amount of easing on these fronts, but it is only on the face of it. These are just some of the obvious ways in which caste manifests itself in, and determines, everyday social realities and practices. Any transgression of the caste law is met with collective persecution and social ostracism. Marakumbi village was no exception to this caste law.

With education, and the growth of political consciousness under the influence of Dalit and Left organisations, the younger generation of Dalits, these practices began to be questioned. The dominant castes would have nothing to do with this and attacks on Dalit youths in the village became a regular feature. The events that transpired on 28th August 2014, was one of the most vicious retaliations by the dominant castes of Marakumbi village. Despite this heinous crime that was meant to spread horror and fear amongst Dalits, the collective strength of the Dalit community in the village, backed by the Dalit and Left organisations, ensured that a criminal case was registered followed by proper investigation and prosecution in court.

Coming to the judgment, it is interesting to note that the Sessions Judge, Mr. C. Chandrashekar, begins the judgment with an apt quote of Marian Anderson, the great African American opera singer who demonstrated her resilience to discrimination. She is most often recalled for her brave and stirring performance from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, after she was refused, because of the colour of her skin, a performance at the Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. Incidentally, the quote that Judge Mr. C. Chandrashekar refers to is one of her replies in an interview with Tara Ali Baig at All India Radio, New Delhi on her visit to India in 1957. In this interview, Baig refers to her performance at Lincoln Memorial in 1939 and questions around “racial prejudice”, to which Marian Anderson responded: “It is so true that no matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger than its weakest people. And as long as you keep a person down some part of you has to be down there to hold them down. So that means you cannot soar as you might otherwise.”

Saying so, the Court goes into an in-depth appreciation of the evidence of 38 witnesses and the various documentary proof brought on record, and rightly concludes that the oral evidence of the witnesses are reliable to convict the dominant caste persons. The Court takes special note that the persons examined in court were eye-witnesses who had themselves been injured and their testimonies are corroborated by the medical evidence that was brought on record. Incidentally, the wound certificates of 36 Dalit victims was brought on record detailing the extent of injuries they had sustained in the caste mob attack.

We must recognise that the dominant caste accused and their caste well-wishers tried every trick in the book – threats, intimidations and inducements – to dissuade the Dalit community in Marakumbi from pursuing the case. In particular, the witnesses listed in the chargesheet of this case, were targeted. In fact, one key witness, Veeresh Marakumbi, was murdered on 10th July 2015. Despite this, they stood unflinchingly in their quest for justice, neither bowing to fear nor falling for inducements, and instead deposed bravely and honestly to bring home the guilt of the dominant caste accused. Only three witnesses – Gangadharaiah Swamy, his wife, Mahanthamma and another witness Devaraj, turned hostile. Ironically, Gangadharaiah Swamy and his wife were attacked during this violence since he was considered to be a “well-wisher of the oppressed people in the village”. The Court, however has disregarded this, stating that “despite 2-3 witnesses turning hostile, there is sufficient material on record that they were also injured in the violence and were treated in the Gangavathi Hospital but for certain reasons, intimidation or inducement, they have not supported the case”. The fact that the other Dalit witnesses did not succumb to the same, stands testimony to their strength and determination. We cannot lose sight of the fact that this is one of the few cases where dominant caste persons have been convicted in a caste atrocity case, given that the normal conviction rate in caste atrocity cases hovers around 7% in Karnataka, whereas the conviction rate for other penal offences is above 50%.

Caste related violence, indignations and oppression are an everyday affair, not just in Koppal district, but across the State. As per the National Crime Records Bureau, the state of Karnataka recorded 1,398 cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in the year 2020, which increased to 1673 in 2021 and 1977 cases in 2022. These are just the figures of registered cases. The daily crimes of untouchability, segregation and caste violence most often go unchallenged, unreported and unrecorded.

In this context, we recall a remarkable statement made by the Sessions Judge while passing this conviction order: “… a lack of implementation of Legislation and Caste Bias within the justice systems largely leave victims without protection.”. No doubt, the constitutional promises to caste-oppressed communities of equality, justice, liberty, fraternity and the abolition of untouchability, remain unfulfilled by a combination of the lack of political and bureaucratic will (that has rendered toothless the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989), and caste blindness, and sometimes sheer caste prejudices, of Courts (that have reduced hopes of justice from the judiciary).

In this regard, this judgment must indeed serve as a wake-up call to all casteist forces. To the state and caste proponents. To those who celebrate and enforce caste and untouchability. One of the essential and radical steps in the democratization of society and the struggle for equality, is the annihilation of caste. Any programme towards annihilation of caste entails waging a relentless struggle against the ideological and economic underpinnings of caste – a struggle against Manuvada and its material basis. Indeed, the struggle against caste oppression has to be a part and parcel of every struggle. This epic struggle of the Dalit community in Marukambi village has demonstrated the possibilities of the collective struggle of Dalit, Left and progressive forces in achieving this.