Police picket posted at the village

Gooty police have taken three persons into custody on charge of barring entry of Dalit women into Sri Anjaneya Swamy temple at Brahmanapalli village of Gooty mandal in the district.

Superintendent of Police B. Satya Yesubabu said that Tadipatri Deputy Superintendent of Police was investigating into the case.

When contacted, the Tadipatri DSP said that while the issue of monetary penalty and not allowing Dalit women into the temple was being probed, the complainant Peddanna from the village, was now insisting on withdrawing the complaint.

At the Brahmanapalli village there was an uneasy calm with police picket at the temple and hundreds of men and women gathered near the temple discussing the way forward after the temple allegedly turned inauspicious due to the entry of a woman despite the ban for 41 days after renovated temple was consecrated and a new Dhwajasthambam was installed on May 29.

“Entire temple has to undergo the process of ‘shuddhi’ with the entry of the women,” villagers told The Hindu.

The villagers said this family had entered the temple despite the priest asking them not to enter as per the ritual. “Even otherwise they have their own temple in their colony and do not enter this temple premises at all, but none knows why them came inside,” the women there said.

“Even we do not dare to enter the temple as women are not supposed to enter and we got our new temple investing ₹8 lakh after the dilapidated one came down 15 years ago,” they added.

The Dalit family, which was persecuted, said they did not want to enter the temple, but return from outside.

However, while they were standing outside, the priest asked them to come in so they had gone there.