Madurai: Within a span of 15 days, another incident of discrimination against Dalit is reported. In the incident, Dalits were denied access to sheltered burial ground despite incessant rains. This incident took place in Madurai.
Vellore District incident
It may be mentioned that earlier, in Vellore District of Tamil Nadu, Dalits were forced to airdrop body from a 20 feet high bridge in order to take it to the cremation ground. They had taken the decision after local upper-caste community denied road access to the funeral procession.
Madurai incident
According to the report published in The News Minute, in Madurai, a 50-year-old Shanmugavel died. His relatives faced difficulties as rains created hurdles in performing his last rites.
Helpless dalits approached caste Hindus for help. However, they denied access to their sheltered burial ground.
It may be mentioned that in the village, there are 50 Dalit families and 150 caste Hindus. Although burial grounds of Dalits and caste Hindu are located side-by-side, they are separated by a tall compound wall.
In the video which went viral on social media, relatives of the deceased can be seen covering the corpse with mats. Another person can be seen folding hands for help.