Refusal to cut hair of dalit students: Big police action against age-old untouchability in Karnataka village!

Caste based discrimination in Kinni Sultan village of Aland taluk, Dalit students denied service in salon.

Published on: 01 Jul 2025, 10:03 am

Karnataka: Police have registered a case under SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act after a salon owner in Kinni Sultan village in Aland taluk of Kalaburagi district refused to cut the hair of students belonging to the Dalit community.

According to the police , on Friday some students from the Dalit community went to a salon to get their hair cut. It is alleged that the salon owner refused to serve them saying that they were following the traditions of their ancestors. It is worth noting that recently incidents of Dalits being refused a haircut had come to light in this area.

Despite there being three salons in the village, Dalits have to travel 14 km to Aland town or 5 km to Takdal village to get their hair cut. It was only after the police warned them of strict action that the village barbers agreed to serve Dalit customers.

Based on a complaint by a person from the Dalit community, the police have registered a case against salon owner Premnath Shinde under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

To gather information about this incident, Vijayalakshmi Holkar, Assistant Director of Social Welfare Department of Aland Taluk visited the village.