Bellary, Oct 9 (Times of India) : A gutsy 20-year-old woman of a village in Hospet taluk withstood extreme pressure and got nine of her relatives arrested for allegedly forcing her to become a devadasi.
Barely hours before her engagement on Monday, Kamakshi was allegedly forced by some relatives to become a devadasi, a practice banned in Karnataka over three decades ago. The resolute woman shook off family pressure and marched into Mariyamanahalli police station along with her mother, two sisters and a brother. She was supported by village elders in the fight.
She lodged a complaint against nine of her relatives. Police immediately picked up two of them from the village and seven others by evening. The arrested are M Rudrappa, 60, M Ambarish, 21, M Venkatesh, 30, M Manjunath, 24, M Yerriswamy, 20, M Siddappa, 21, M Swamy, 30, M Anjini, 22, and M Galappa, 45. All the nine are in judicial custody.
A teary-eyed Kamakshi said: "I don't want to become a devadasi. I want to marry and lead a normal life." She belongs to the Valmiki caste. After father Ambanna's death, mother Vishalakshi struggled hard to run the family. Kamakshi studied till SSLC.
Sub-inspector Jayaprakash appreciated the "brave girl, who refused to give in to pressure".
The practice of Devadasi is banned under the Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982, but it's secretly followed in some nooks of the state. In February, the Supreme Court had directed Karnataka to ensure no girls are offered to temples as devadasis.
The petitioner, SL Foundation, had urged the court to direct the Centre and Karnataka to restrain the devadasis' dedication that was scheduled to be held on the midnight of February 13 at Uttangi Mala Durga Temple in Davanagere district.
The devadasi who got married in May, a 35-year-old woman who was forced to become a devadasi by her mother, married her live-in partner of seven years and the father of her three daughters. Sumangala braved stiff opposition, including from her mother, to marry Venu alias M Venugopal, a daily-wage worker in Malavi village of Bellary district.