Residents of Irumathur Panchayat in Dharmapuri protest against alleged encroachment of graveyard

Residents of Dokkampatty village in Irumathur panchayat petitioned the Dharmapuri Collector to retrieve a graveyard land allegedly encroached by an AIADMK functionary. Villagers enacted a funeral scene to draw attention of the district administration to their grievance.

Residents of Dokkampatty in Irumathur panchayat in Dharmapuri on Monday petitioned the District Collector to retrieve a graveyard land allegedly encroached by an AIADMK functionary.

The villagers enacted a funeral scene at the Collectorate to “draw the attention” of the district administration to their grievance.

According to the protesters, the graveyard that has been in the use of the village for ages has now been encroached allegedly by M.K. Mahalingam, a local functionary of the AIADMK. They also alleged that their complaints to the local authorities and the Kambainallur police were not acted upon. They demanded that the government intervene and retrieve the graveyard. The protesters also threatened to “return their PDS card, Voter ID, and Aadhaar to the government” if their demand was not met. 

The residents also issued an “ultimatum” that they would escalate the protest if the encroachment was not removed immediately.