After the couple filed a complaint, local police opened the temple and escorted the couple inside to perform rituals
NEW DELHI— A wedding should have meant celebration. For Nirmal Kanade and his wife, it meant humiliation at the gates of a deity.
On Friday (April 24), the newly-married Dalit couple walked up to the Hanuman Temple in Padliya Gavli village, Khargone district in Madhya Pradesh, ready to offer prayers. They found the doors locked — not by chance, but by caste.
Villagers from dominant communities allegedly told the couple to stay outside and pray from a distance. The message was centuries old, even if the wedding was new: Dalits belong beyond the threshold.
“I went to the Hanuman Temple with my wife to offer prayers, but we were not allowed entry and were told to pray from outside,” Nirmal said.
The couple dialled 112. When police arrived, they unlocked the temple and escorted the two inside to perform their rituals — a brief victory secured only by the threat of law.
But the backlash was swift. A panchayat of other castes reportedly struck back with a social boycott. Nirmal’s family and two other Scheduled Caste households were cut off overnight. The alleged decree: anyone who sells them milk, tea, or daily essentials — or even speaks to them — would face a ₹11,000 fine. In one stroke, a temple dispute became economic strangulation.
Village elders from dominant castes offered justifications: the temple was on its “afternoon break” to deter theft and stray animals. They also claimed the couple tried to enter wearing footwear, and that local custom bars women from nearing the Hanuman idol.
Yet for Dalits across India, the pattern is familiar. Temple entry, water access, marriage processions — the sites change, but the gatekeeping doesn’t. Article 17 abolished “untouchability” in 1950. In 2026, police escorts are still needed to enforce it.
After three rounds of talks led by the district administration and Khargone SP Ravindra Verma, the boycott was revoked on Sunday. Officials say normalcy has returned. The families can now enter the temple and buy from local shops.
“The issue has been settled after talks between both sides. The restrictions imposed on the three families have been lifted and normalcy has returned,” a senior police officer confirmed.
For Nirmal and his wife, “normalcy” came only after a police complaint, a forced entry, and a village-wide boycott. Their crime: trying to pray while Dalit.
The temple gates are open today. The question is why it took the police lockpick and a public standoff to pry them open — and how many other doors remain closed when no one is watching.
