A Bengaluru man’s post about being denied housing for being a Kannadiga has gone viral, sparking outrage. He claims the landlady refused to rent to him based solely on his ethnicity, with others sharing similar discriminatory experiences.
Bengaluru: A young man's social media post alleging that he was denied housing in Bengaluru due to his Kannadiga ethnicity has gone viral, sparking outrage and prompting others to share similar experiences. The man claims the landlady explicitly stated she wouldn't rent to Kannadigas and abruptly ended the call.
The man, with the Reddit username "Bangalore," shared his experience, expressing his disappointment. In a detailed post, he explained how the landlord initially asked for his name and then refused to rent the house, stating she wouldn't rent to anyone from Karnataka. His post details his experience as a Kannadiga searching for a house in Bengaluru.
"Today, while searching for a house, I found a suitable listing. The woman's surname suggested she might be from Jharkhand or West Bengal. I called her to enquire about the rental. She immediately asked where I was from, then about the rent. I told her I was born and raised in Bengaluru, a Kannadiga. Without hesitation, she said she doesn't rent to Kannadigas and hung up before I could react."
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"Angered, I called back to ask for a reason, but she didn't answer and later blocked my number. I couldn't believe what was happening in my own city, where I was born and raised. Had I not experienced this myself, I wouldn't have believed it. She didn't ask about my details, background, or anything else, just where I was from."
The post quickly went viral, with many sharing similar experiences. One commenter recounted being denied housing in Mysuru by a fellow Kannadiga landlady simply for being from Bengaluru.
Another shared, "My uncle had to stay in Bhubaneswar for six months and wanted to live in a good area. He's a native Odia speaker. When he enquired about a house rented by some Bihari families in the society, they refused, saying they wouldn't rent to an Odia person." Similar incidents were shared, including a Marathi-speaking woman being denied housing in Mumbai because the landlord had "enough of Gujarati people".
Last year, a similar incident went viral where a renter was denied housing because he didn't score as high as the landlord desired on his 12th-grade exams. He scored 75%, but the landlord expected at least 90%.
