Tension in Karur village as Dalit man dies during protest

Villagers were seeking pathway to graveyard

Tension gripped Vedichipalayam near Karur on Monday after a 43-year-old man belonging to the Scheduled Caste died at the graveyard in the village, where a group was staging a novel protest of ‘residing at the graveyard’ for obstructing a pathway to carry the dead. According to sources, five years ago a few persons bought a piece of land on the pathway, which was being used by the Dalits to carry bodies to their exclusive graveyard. This had created discontent among the Dalits as they had to wade through a field to reach the graveyard for the last five years. The Revenue authorities allegedly expressed inability in solving the issue by claiming that the pathway was owned by two individuals and there was no such [common] path in the Revenue records. Urging the authorities to ‘retrieve the pathway’ residents of the Adi Dravidar Street in Vedichipalayam, including women and children, began a ‘live in’ protest at the graveyard on Sunday evening. Some of them ate dinner and slept at the graveyard. On information, the revenue and police officers rushed to the spot and urged them to withdraw the protest. But they did not budge.