In yet another incident of caste atrocity, three elderly Dalit men were forced to prostrate before the members of a village panchayat and apologise following a quarrel between two groups over organising a music function in the village.
Though the incident took place on Wednesday, it came to light only after a video of the incident went viral on social media platforms.
Police said members of the Dalit colony in Ottanandhal Panchayat near Thiruvennainallur had organised a music function recently. Caste Hindus from the village had lodged a complaint against them with the local police for organising the event during the pandemic.
A police officer said that a team from Thiruvennainallur police station warned the organisers and seized the equipment including mikes and speakers. The police later returned the equipment. Subsequently, a group from the colony reportedly questioned a youth from the village for lodging a police complaint over the event. This led to an altercation between the two groups.
Inquiry by the police revealed that though the issue was initially resolved, it was later escalated after the panchayat decided to resolve the issue on its own. The panchayat made three Dalit elders from the colony to prostrate before them and apologise for the sequence of events.
Superintendent of Police S. Radhakrishnan said that a team had been deputed to the village to identify the men (responsible for the atrocity) and arrest them. A case has been booked against them under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, he said.