Chennai: In another case of caste discrimination, residents of Veedhi village in Tamil Nadu denied passage to Dalit residents to carry out a funeral procession forcing them to take the procession through garbage dump yard and sewers.
The shocking incident came to light after a video surfaced online. It shows the Dalit residents of Coimbatore district walking through sewer and garbage dump yard to reach the crematorium after being denied permission to use the road.
Around 1,500 Dalit families residing in the area said that they have submitted memorandums on several occasions to the authorities that they need a passage to take the dead to cremation ground, but did not receive any response from the officials.
The community alleges that they are not allowed to carry the dead through the route where the upper caste community resides.
Vinodh, a resident said, "The upper caste community have proper roads and access to the crematorium. It is a challenge for us to reach the cremation ground. During the monsoon season, it is even worse and we have to take a much longer route. There is no facility like water and power in the ground allocated for our community.”
“For a half kilometer route to the ground, we have to travel for over 2.5kms to reach the crematorium. All we ask for is a proper passage and power to be provided for the crematorium,” adds Raja, another resident.
In August this year, a similar shocking case of caste discrimination from Tamil Nadu’s Vellore was reported where villagers belonging to the upper caste allegedly denied permission for the funeral procession of a Dalit man to be taken through their agricultural fields, forcing members of his community to lower his body from a 20-feet-high bridge.
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