Chilkamagaluru, Oct 12: A coffee estate owner allegedly held over a dozen Dalits captive for a day after beating them in a village near here, police said on Tuesday.

Police have registered a case against coffee estate owner Jagadish Gowda and his son Tilak under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Prevention of Atrocities Against SC-ST Act.

A woman, who allegedly suffered injuries, said two weeks before beating the victims, Gowda had a fight with her brother-in-law over some petty issue related to children.

The estate owner allegedly verbally abused the children, she told reporters, adding her sister scolded him over it.

When my brother-in-law too questioned the Gowda, he started beating the Dalit family, the woman said.

"The next day we didn't go to work. When he (Jagadish Gowda) asked us the reason, we told him that we will not work because you beat us. He then held us captive for a day till my mother freed us," she said.

The woman's mother alleged that her daughter had an abortion due to the assault.

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New Delhi (PTI): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday took oath as a member of Rajya Sabha, marking the end of his two-decade rule in the eastern state and paving the way for a new chief minister.

The oath was administered by Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan in his chamber at a brief ceremony. The Chairman later welcomed him as a member of the Upper House and also on his return in Parliament.

Kumar took the oath in Hindi in the presence of Union Minister J P Nadda, who is also leader of the house, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ram Nath Thakur and Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal.

Bihar deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary was also present at the oath-taking.

JDU leader and party's working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh, besides BJP MP and former union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy and BJP chief whip in Lok Sabha Sanjay Jaiswal, were among those present during the oath-taking.

"Vice President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan, administered the oath to Shri Nitish Kumar as an elected Member of Rajya Sabha, from Bihar, at Parliament House today," the Vice President's office said on X, while sharing pictures of the oath-taking.

After the oath-taking, Kumar came out of the new Parliament building and spoke about the time he was a member of the Lok Sabha and sat in the old Parliament building.

As Kumar assumes the Rajya Sabha role, it marks the end of his long two-decade rule in Bihar. Kumar will soon resign as chief minister and the NDA is likely to elect a new chief minister of Bihar on April 14.

He has already resigned as a member of the State Legislative Council on March 30 after he was elected to Rajya Sabha.

The JD(U) supremo was elected to the Upper House of Parliament on March 16, and he had to quit as an MLC in the 14-day period after his election.