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New Indian Express

Dalit sanitation workers allege caste abuse by Melpathi panchayat president in TN

VILLUPURAM: The Tamil Nadu government has directed the Villupuram SP to inquire into allegations of caste-based discrimination against four Dalit sanitation workers in Melpathi village. The directive from the deputy secretary (Home Department) follows a petition submitted to the chief minister's special cell. G Muniyammal (47), one of the workers, alleged that she and three others were forced to clean human faeces with bare hands and subjected to repeated caste-based abuse by Melpathi panchayat president R Manivel and a few Caste Hindu members. They also accused local police officers of coercing the workers into withdrawing the complaint. The four workers - Muniyammal, K Athilakshmi, S Nagaraj, and P Govindaraj - collect household waste in the village. Following the attack on a Dalit family by the caste Hindus allegedly for entering the Shri Dharmaraja Draupathi Amman Temple on April 7, 2023, the workers said they are being humiliated publicly and unfairly blamed for the temple dispute. The workers stated that the discrimination, verbal abuse, and physical intimidation from the panchayat president has become unbearable over the past two years. 'We were mocked, threatened, and assigned demeaning tasks. We were told not to enter certain streets and they made us feel like we didn't belong here. We were even forced to clean human faeces with bare hands,' Muniyammal told TNIE. 'They even forced us to sign blank papers that were later fabricated to claim that we have withdrawn the complaint.' Despite repeated appeals to panchayat officials, including vice president Selvam, and sanitation supervisor Kavitha, no action has been taken, the workers said in the complaint.