Burial Of SC Man Triggers Caste Row In Tamil Nadu As Two Men Fall At Dominant-Caste Villagers’ Feet Over Employment Threats Over Common Cemetery Use

Chennai: In a shocking incident of caste hegemony, two men belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district fell at the feet of villagers hailing from the dominant Backward Caste (BC) after the latter allegedly warned they would no longer employ the SCs for daring to bury the body of an aged man in the village’s common cemetery. A video of the humiliating incident was shared on social media platforms on Friday.

Revenue Department authorities said around 100 SC members are living in Perumbali village near Perundurai in Erode district. The cemetery in the village was used by members of the dominant intermediate caste. However, the burial ground was declared as common to all communities by the Perundurai Tahsildar recently.

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The SC members, who were earlier forced to take the bodies of the deceased members of their community, to Thingalur, about five kilometers away, decided to bury a nonagenarian man Chenni, who died on October 5, at the village burial ground. This angered the members of the intermediate community, who apparently told the SC inhabitants not to approach them seeking work in future. Since the SC villagers are dependent on wages given by the land holding members of the BC community, two of them fell at their feet and pleaded with them not to take such a decision. This was captured on video.

It is alleged the humiliation took place in front of Revenue officials. The Bahujan Samaj Party has now appealed to the district administration to take action against the members of the dominant community.

Police said a case has been registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and investigation was on. In a shocking incident of caste hegemony, two men belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district fell at the feet of villagers hailing from the dominant Backward Caste (BC) after the latter allegedly warned they would no longer employ the SCs for daring to bury the body of an aged man in the village’s common cemetery. A video of the humiliating incident was shared on social media platforms on Friday.

Revenue Department authorities said around 100 SC members are living in Perumbali village near Perundurai in Erode district. The cemetery in the village was used by members of the dominant intermediate caste. However, the burial ground was declared as common to all communities by the Perundurai Tahsildar recently.

The SC members, who were earlier forced to take the bodies of the deceased members of their community, to Thingalur, about five kilometers away, decided to bury a nonagenarian man Chenni, who died on October 5, at the village burial ground. This angered the members of the intermediate community, who apparently told the SC inhabitants not to approach them seeking work in future. Since the SC villagers are dependent on wages given by the land holding members of the BC community, two of them fell at their feet and pleaded with them not to take such a decision. This was captured on video.

It is alleged the humiliation took place in front of Revenue officials. The Bahujan Samaj Party has now appealed to the district administration to take action against the members of the dominant community.

Police said a case has been registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and investigation was on.