Shameful!! Upper Caste Men Hurl Casteist Abuses At Hockey Player Vandana Katariya's Family After Olympic Loss

Even though it is 2021, some people have still not gone beyond factors like caste and religion it seems. Hockey player Vandana Katariya's family in Uttarakhand's Haridwar was subjected to casteist slurs by two upper-caste men hours after India lost to Argentina at the Tokyo Games on Wednesday.

The duo burst crackers, danced in mock celebration and hurled casteist abuses at her family, saying the team had lost because it had too many Dalit players. The police have detained one of them but are yet to file a first information report in the case, police officer LS Butola said.

'They Said Dalits Should Be Kept Out Of Every Sport'

Soon after the match, the family heard the noise of firecrackers outside their house in Roshanabad village, Katariya's brother Shekhar said. "When we went outside, we saw two men from our village dancing in front of our house," he added.

When the duo spotted Katariya's family step out, they unleashed a stream of casteist abuses. Shekhar added that the men said that every sport should keep Dalits out. Meanwhile, the incident triggered outrage on social media.

Facing Struggles In Personal Life

Katariya overcame lots of hurdles on her way to make it to the top. Growing up in Haridwar, there were many in her neighbourhood who didn't want her to play hockey. But her father Nahar Singh took on those who were against girls pursuing sports seriously.

She lost her father three months ago and could not even attend her father's funeral as she was training for the Olympics in Bengaluru. On July 31, she became the first Indian woman to score a hat-trick at the Olympics. Her three goals helped India record a 4-3 win over South Africa in their final pool match.

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