The woman, Shivamma, drank water on November 18 from the tank in an upper-caste locality in the Heggatora village and prompted Mahadevappa to allegedly “purify” it.

The woman, Shivamma, drank water on November 18 from the tank in an upper-caste locality in the Heggatora village and prompted Mahadevappa to allegedly “purify” it. Officials rushed to the village to inquire into the matter as a video of the “purification” went viral on social media.

Shivamma, who is from Saragur in HD Kote taluk, on Tuesday told the media she visited Heggatora for a wedding. “After lunch, I had water from the tank before boarding a bus.”

Shivamma said when she was drinking water, a man asked her about her caste and told her not to drink water after he learnt she is Dalit.

IE Basavaraju, the local tehsildar, was among the officials who visited the village and told villagers the water tank is a public property and everyone could drink water from it. Basavaraju also accompanied over 20 Dalits to public drinking water taps in the village to drink water.