Tension as Dalit woman's grandmother-in-law denied burial in Tamil Nadu village
TIRUPATTUR: The dominant caste people of a village in Tamil Nadu refused to allow the burial of a 80-year-old woman for the simple reason that her granddaughter-in-law is a Dalit.
The incident happened at Kanavaipudur village in Tirupattur.
The 80-year-old Kanakammal was eventually buried in Minnur village, about 10 km away, where Kanakammal's elder daughter resides.
Vaniyambadi Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) A Vijaykumar on Saturday arrested Govindapuram panchayat president K Palani under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for refusing to bury Kanakammal in her native village.
Following the arrest, villagers (predominantly belonging to the same dominant caste) gheraoed the DSP office, demanding Palani’s release.
Though Kanakammal's grandson, B Sasikumar belongs to a dominant caste, he had married a Dalit woman.
Hence, the village “heads”, backed by the villagers, had demanded that they would only permit the burial if the couple wouldn’t attend the funeral and Sasikumar and his mother give up their property rights.
Sasikumar’s wife P Sandhya said that after Kanakammal’s death on February 5, the family had informed the village “heads” as per the customary practice. “Immediately, they said there was no place for her in the village. After several negotiations, they said both my husband and I had to leave during the funeral ceremony.
We agreed to it. Then, they said my mother-in-law Amudha would not be allowed to perform the last rites and watch it from a distance. We agreed to that as well.” They further demanded that Amudha donate her properties to the village and that Sasikumar give up his property rights to his sisters and cut ties with his family and village.
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