Citing violation of party discipline, the state BJP has issued a showcause notice to Munirathna and asked him to clarify the allegations before a disciplinary committee within five days.
The political fight for the Dalits' cause escalated on Thursday with Congress president Rahul Gandhi accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having an "anti-Dalit" mindset and the Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah alleging the opposition party had a legacy of insulting the community.
Vijay Kumar Kamble was allegedly stabbed and attacked with a rod on Wednesday night at Wadi in Kalaburagi
BJP's Dalit leader Udit Raj had said the Hindu religion is in 'danger' not because of conversion but because of its 'so-called protectors'.
According to a complaint lodged by the woman's husband, Shakoor Khan broke into their home on Thursday and raped his wife when she was alone.
Mayawati said both the BJP and the SP indulged in empty talks to win the votes of Dalits and Brahmins, but neither safeguarded their interests when in power.
In a video the man was purportedly seen being thrashed and abused, while some people stood there as spectators.
'Today, Dalits can become IAS officers, doctors, IPS, MLAs, MPs and even the President due to the Constitution of India.' 'And if you destroy India's Constitution, then poverty will never disappear.' 'If the BJP is pro-Dalit, they must implement policies which are pro-Dalit.' 'It cannot work if they only talk.'
Kumar, who will contest against National Democratic Alliance's Ram Nath Kovind for the post of president, described the presidential poll as a "battle of ideologies" and not a "Dalit versus Dalit" fight as was being out made out by some.
Congress says RSS was working for "Dalit-mukt Bharat" which was "sponsored" by BJP to polarise communities ahead of next year's Gujarat polls.
Nikhil Kumar, a class 10 student at a local inter-college on Phaphond Road in Achalda police station area, was allegedly thrashed by his social sciences teacher Ashwini Singh on September 7 for making mistakes in a test.
Here are 5 BJP MPs who have taken up cudgels against their party leadership for its handling of Dalit issues.
Congress demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting high court judge.
Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Rajasthan has reported the highest number of cases of atrocities against SCs and STs during 2013-15, followed by poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, a new government report said, even as the Centre on Monday flagged the issue of poor conviction rates in such cases.
Congress members demanded that the prime minister should speak on the issue in the House rather than "tweet". They staged a walkout later.
A nine-year-old Dalit boy died on Saturday allegedly after he was beaten up by a teacher for touching a drinking water pot in a private school in Jalore district of Rajasthan, police said.
He also attacked Modi on the CBSE question papers leak and on the 'leak' of assembly election date for Karnataka, saying Modi was silent on these issues too.
Series of controversies related to Dalit issues have come at a time when the BJP has launched a massive campaign to win back Uttar Pradesh.
The case has been registered against a mob of 20 persons, including Kana Ahir, Rajesh Maharaj, Kesra Rabai, Paba Rabari and Kana Koli, on the charges of attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery, assault, and under relevant sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, police said.
In a virtual snub to the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes on Thursday said the state had the "worst track record" across the country in terms of atrocities on Dalits.
The protesters blocked roads in several areas of Mumbai, forced shops to shut down.
The alleged attack has come to light amid furore over the assault on Dalits in Gujarat's Una for allegedly skinning a cow.
Jatav youth ask tough questions about surgical strikes, expenditure on statues and organising of the Kumbh festival.
The bill rules out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs, notwithstanding any court order.
Recently appointed chairman of the NationalCommission for Scheduled Castes chief P L Punia on Wednesday pointedly accused the Mayawati government of being "insensitive" to the plight of Dalits in Uttar Pradesh.
'70 years back, Dalits used to be abused, scolded, slapped, but killing a Dalit was rare because a Dalit was somebody's property.' 'Now that they are free, they are facing violent attacks.'
In the backdrop of suicide of a Dalit research scholar in Hyderabad University, Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Ramdas Athawale today demanded that members of the community be allowed to possess firearms given a "vertical rise" in incidents of "atrocities" against them.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday condemned the torching of 34 houses, mostly belonging to SC/ST communities, in Nawada district and asked the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) to visit the site and oversee the probe.
According to the officer, the accused has confessed to the killings and said that he had an affair with the teacher's wife for 18 months which went sour later, leading to him shooting the family.
Karat and CPI-M MP P K Biju are in Gujarat to meet the victims of atrocities on Dalits.
'Our senselessness on caste issue has gone so deep that we need to have a sensitivity test on why we as Indians have become so numb to such mindless violence.'
At least 1,100 postcards with a small message and tagline 'Badbu Gujarat Ki (stink of Gujarat)' were sent on Tuesday to state tourism's brand ambassador and Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan by Dalits as part of a campaign to highlight "atrocities" against them in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Victim Amar, a resident of Roda village in Lalitpur, told ANI one Sonu Yadav forced him to drink his urine a few days ago. "When I refused, he attacked me with a stick. He also attacked my son with an axe. We then complained against him to the police," Amar said.
Jayesh Solanki, cousin Prakash Solanki and two other Dalit men were sitting near a house adjacent to a temple in Bhadrania village when a person made "derogatory remarks about their caste", police said quoting a complaint filed in connection with the incident.
In the video, which was allegedly shot and circulated by one of the accused, the Dalit boy can be seen sobbing and pleading for mercy.
'If Modi sincerely thinks that Dalits are also Hindus then spread this message to the entire nation through programmes like Mann Ki Baat.' 'We would love to listen to the PM tell the nation to look upon us as fellow Indians and human beings.'
Party justifies total washout of day's proceedings in Rajya Sabha, citing Dalit atrocity, insult to Congress CMs and the GST bill.
'To selectively look at the operation of certain laws -- in a manner that ignores the realities of caste and gender injustice in India -- and conclude that they are being particularly misused, is plain wrong,' says Aakar Patel.
'One provision in the Act -- immediate arrest (of those accused under the Act), made this act different from all other sections of the IPC.' 'With that provision snatched, the Dalit Act has become toothless because caste criminals feared this provision of immediate arrest the most.'
The Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Thursday launched a frontal attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party over growing attacks on Dalits and other sections, saying a "Taliban-like attitude" was prevailing in some parts of the country and the 'Gujarat model' had been thoroughly exposed.
