A suo moto case has been registered against former minister and Mogaveera BJP leader Pramod Madhwaraj by the police on Saturday for allegedly making a controversial speech during a protest at the Malpe fishing harbour. The protest was held in response to the arrest of five fishermen accused of assaulting a Dalit woman over allegations of theft.
The case was filed under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and BNS 130 (Assault) against five fishermen on March 19, a day after a 43-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly tied up and assaulted on charges of stealing fish. The five arrested fishermen were remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
Addressing the protest on Saturday, Madhwaraj reportedly justified the assault, questioning whether the woman was beaten with a fishing rod or a weapon, and stating that “thieves must be dealt with accordingly.”
“In response to his public speech, we filed a suo moto case on Saturday against Madhwaraj for making controversial statements driven by hatred,” Malpe police inspector M Ravi told HT.
Madhwaraj has been booked under BNS sections 57 (abetting commission of an offence by the public), 191(1) (rioting), and 192 (provocation for rioting) and further investigations are ongoing, he added.
The protestors at Malpe demanded that the case against the fishermen be revoked and called for the immediate release of the accused. They warned of intensified agitation if their demands were not met.
“The fishermen who assaulted the woman were unaware of her Dalit identity. The police should not have taken such harsh action against them. There has never been caste, creed, or religious discrimination at Malpe harbour,” Udupi Block Congress president Ramesh Kanchan said.
Meanwhile, Malpe fishermen’s association president Dayanand Suvarna rejected claims of caste or religious discrimination at the harbour.
“There is no caste or religious discrimination at the harbour. The fishing sector is already facing multiple challenges, and thefts of fish and equipment from boats have become frequent. The authorities have failed in managing the harbour, with a lack of security personnel and CCTV cameras. No one is addressing our concerns,” he said.