Three Cases Filed in Telangana Over 'Purification Rituals' After Dalit Congress Protest

Telangana Police have registered three cases against several supporters of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) over alleged "purification rituals" carried out near former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's farmhouse in Siddipet district. The rituals followed a protest by Dalit workers of the Congress in the same area a day earlier.

The cases, all booked at Murkook Police Station under the Siddipet Commissionerate, invoke provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the Protection of Civil Rights Act, and Sections 196 and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deal with promoting enmity between groups and intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace.

According to police, the rituals were performed in two villages, Erravalli and Varadarajpur, shortly after Dalit Congress workers held a Dappu (drum) protest against two BRS Members of Legislative Council and other Opposition leaders, including party chief K Chandrashekar Rao, over an alleged verbal insult to Assembly Speaker G Prasad Kumar. Turmeric water and milk were sprayed on the roads where the Dalit protesters had walked, the police said.

The first case names local BRS leader and former Erravalli sarpanch Balaraju along with 10 others, based on a complaint by M Swamy of Erravalli, who said the ritual was conducted after he and other Dalit protesters had left the spot. The second case, filed on a complaint by farmer B Srikanth, names BRS supporters Balamani, Appala Praveen, Raju and six others from Varadarajpur. The third case, registered on a complaint by B Mohan of Wargal, names BRS supporter Pavani Goud and eight others; the complainant said he saw news reports of Goud and other BRS supporters conducting the ritual between Varadarajpur village and the Erravalli farmhouse.

A senior Siddipet police officer said more cases could be registered, as complaints about the rituals have been lodged at police stations across the state and may be transferred to Siddipet as zero FIRs. No arrests have been made so far, though investigators have collected forensic evidence, including the turmeric sprayed on the roads.

The BRS has filed a counter-complaint, claiming that images used by Congress leaders to accuse its workers of organising a purification ritual were misleading and AI-generated.

The row unfolded against the backdrop of events that began on Monday, when BRS MLCs Tata Madhusudan, also known as Tata Madhu, and Naveen Kumar Reddy allegedly made remarks insulting the Speaker and his mother. The two MLCs were arrested on Tuesday and later released on personal bond by a local court. The Speaker broke down in the Assembly following the alleged insult, prompting Congress MLAs and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to express their support for the chair.

The controversy also comes a day after Chief Minister Reddy promised a thorough probe into "insult to and atrocities against Dalits" in the state, and amid an ongoing national row over an alleged purification ritual in Uttarakhand at a venue where Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, a Dalit, had addressed a rally.