A coffee estate owner allegedly held 14 Dalits captive for a day after beating them over a financial issue at Husanehalli in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru district, police said on Tuesday.
Police have registered a case against coffee estate owner Jagadeesh Gowda and his son Tilak under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Prevention of Atrocities Against SC-ST Act at the Balehonnur police station.
Also read | In PICS | Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi Joins Bharat Jodo Yatra In Karnataka
A woman, who allegedly suffered injuries, said two weeks before hitting the victims, Gowda had a fight with his brother-in-law over some petty issue related to children. The estate owner allegedly verbally abused the children, she told reporters, adding her sister scolded him over the same issue.
When her brother-in-law questioned Gowda, he started beating the Dalit family, the woman said. "The next day we didn't go to work. When he (Jagadeesh Gowda) asked us the reason, we told him that we will not work because you beat us. He then held us captive for a day till my mother freed us," she said.
The woman's mother alleged that her daughter, who was unable to bear the torture, suffered a miscarriage inside the locked room and later she was admitted to a hospital.
Also read | 'Bharat Jodo Yatra': Rahul Gandhi Takes 'Push-Up Challenge' With Other Congress Leaders, Video Goes Viral
(With PTI inputs)