Shops shut during soldier’s funeral (Image Credit: TOI)

BAGALKOT: It seems the practice of untouchability affected the funeral of a soldier from Dalit community — who served the country for 20 years — at Chinnapur village of Ilkal taluk in Bagalkot district. The incident reportedly happened on Thursday.Sources in the Ilkal taluk administration told TOI that Hanamantappa Harijan, 55, died due to health issues. “Expecting that his relatives, belonging to the Dalit community, would attend his funeral, hotels and shops belonging to certain communities were shut down. As soon as the information was received, tahsildar Amaresh Pammar, officials from police, social welfare, and other departments visited the village and convened a peace meeting of all communities. Upper caste people said that they went to their fields and they normally shut their eateries in the afternoon. After officials’ warning, they opened their shops,” they added.Deceased Hanamantappa’s relatives, who had come from other villages, said that they observed all shops were shut and only one was open. “We drank some juice there but the shopkeeper insisted on paying via mobile apps saying they will not touch cash from Dalits as a Dalit man had died in the village. He also told us that all shops are shut just because of the death of Dalit. Forgetting that he was a soldier, villagers were practising untouchability. Hence we called the police on 112,” they added.Tahsildar Amaresh neither answered calls nor responded to messages.According to videos doing the rounds on social media, a group of ex-servicemen offered their last respects to the departed soul.Police sources said that another peace meeting will be held on March 2.