Casteist abuses hurled at Indian hockey player Vandana Katariya’s family

Indian hockey player Vandana Katariya’s family found themselves at the receiving end of casteist slurs from few people living in their area after the Indian hockey team lost the semi-final clash against Argentina. The incident happened in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar. Vandana’s brother Pankaj Katariya raised a formal complaint with the police on Thursday.

Recounting what had transpired on Wednesday, after the defeat of the match, Pankaj told ANI, "Yesterday, we were watching the match between India and Argentina, once we lost the match there were some people who started to burst crackers. We do not know who these people are, I just want to request there should be no politics based on caste discrimination.”

"Once our women's team lost the match, some people started celebrating, there is an investigation going on. We have complained about the matter as there have been casteist slurs hurled. All these people stay around our area," he added.

He told the Indian Express that they saw 3-4 youths bursting crackers and dancing outside their house. "They said how can people of my caste play in the national team?", Pankaj said.

Acting on the complaint filed with the police, Sidcul police have taken one person into custody.

“A complaint was filed by Vandana Katariya’s brother that casteist slurs were used against the family by unknown people after the Indian hockey team lost the match. A case has been registered and investigation is underway,” said Senthil Avoodai Krishnaraj, SSP, Haridwar.  

Several people took to Twitter to condemn the casteist slurs that her family was subjected to. They pointed out how despite being successfully performing well for the country her family was being subjected to abuse.

Vandana Katariya plays forward in the Indian national team. She first rose to fame in 2013 when she became the top goal-scorer in the Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup. Recently she became the first Indian woman to score a hat-trick at Olympics. She had scored over 200 goals for India.

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