Karnataka: Female Dalit coffee workers accuse boss of locking them up

Police in India are investigating allegations that a coffee plantation owner locked up 14 female labourers on his estate over non-payment of loans.

Jagadeesha Gowda and his son allegedly locked up the Dalit (formerly untouchables) workers for three hours in the southern state of Karnataka on Monday.

Officials are also investigating claims that one of the women suffered a miscarriage after being assaulted.

Mr Gowda has denied the allegations.

Police have registered a case against him and his son, but are yet to make any arrests.

Dalits are at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy and face widespread mistreatment in India despite laws in place to protect them.

Police say that the labourers had been living on the estate, located in Chikkamagaluru district, for three months when a fight broke out between two workers, a man and a woman.

Mr Gowda intervened and allegedly “abused and assaulted” the women, prompting all the female workers to try and leave in protest, they added.

But Mr Gowda allegedly refused to let them do so, demanding that they immediately repay a loan of 900,000 rupees ($10,936; £9,932).

When the men on the farm left to arrange for the money, Mr Gowda allegedly snatched the mobile phones of the women and assaulted some of them, police said.

“He is then alleged to have locked them up in their house between 9am and 12pm,” Chikkamagaluru police officer Uma Prashanth told BBC Hindi.

Mr Prashanth said that officials have also asked one of the workers for her medical reports to confirm whether she suffered a miscarriage.

A case has been registered against Mr Gowda and his son under provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for “causing hurt” and “wrongful confinement”.

Some news reports have described Mr Gowda as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which governs the state – the party has, however, distanced itself from him.

Party spokesperson Varasiddhi Venugopal told NDTV news channel that Mr Gowda was “just a BJP supporter, like any other voter”.