NEW DELHI – A Shiva temple in Greater Noida’s Sunpura village allegedly turned away a group of Dalit women devotees who had come to offer prayers there on Tuesday.
The temple is barely a few kilometers away from former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Dalit icon Mayawati’s home. The police, however, ruled out a caste angle and said it’s a case of personal rivalry.
Tuesday was an auspicious day of Mahashivratri.
Thousands of devotees came to the 500-year-old temple to offer prayers. According to the officials, the Dalit women and their children were waiting in the queue when Dharamvir Giri, the temple priest, asked them to step out and leave the temple premises.
This angered other Dalit devotees present at the temple.
“They got involved in a heated argument,” said Jagdeep Nagar, director, Osho Seva Sansthan.
The Sunpura village has been cordoned off to avoid any violence, Ashok Kumar, SP (rural), said.
