A shopkeeper in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur was arrested and his shop was sealed after he was caught practising untouchability. A video went viral on social media platforms where a shop owner refused to sell petrol to a man under the pretext of a rule where selling items to members of a particular caste was barred.
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The video came from the Kelamangalam village near Papakadu in Thanjavur. It showed the shop owner, reportedly from the upper caste, replied to the man from the scheduled caste that villagers have collectively decided to ostracise their community.
The person asking for petrol recorded the video discreetly and caught the shop owner replying that he can't sell the product as he was asked by villagers to do so.
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A panchayat meeting was reportedly conducted on November 28 where the villagers decided to not sell products or avail services in places ranging from tea stalls to barber shops to members of the scheduled caste.
{{/usCountry}}A panchayat meeting was reportedly conducted on November 28 where the villagers decided to not sell products or avail services in places ranging from tea stalls to barber shops to members of the scheduled caste.
{{/usCountry}}The member of Parliament from the state’s Vilupuram constituency, D Ravikumar, wrote to the state SC/ST commission following the incident and urged strict action against people practising untouchability in the state.
The administration carried out an investigation in the village and found out that members of the scheduled caste community were being discriminated against. The officials also discovered that tea shops in the area were following a two-glass system where tea was served in different glasses among members of SC and other communities. Likewise, barber shops were also following a similar bias along with refusing services to people from the SC community.
The alleged shop owner in the video, Veeramuthu, was arrested by the police under several sections of the SC/ST Atrocities Act.