At Panjakulam in Tenkasi district a shopkeeper, Maheswaran was arrested for practising untouchability and refusing to sell snacks to Scheduled Caste Children.
A video which went viral on social media shows, some children came to shop to buy snacks and candies. A person told them that no shops in the village will sell them any items. He asked them to inform their family that the shops will sell them nothing based on a ‘decision’ taken by the elders of an intermediate caste.
Knowing nothing about this, a child asks about ‘decision’, that person repeats the village elders have decided not to sell anything to Scheduled Caste families. Standing cluelessly for some time the children went away.
Collector P. Akash conducted an inquiry and found following a minor clash between the two castes, the shopkeeper S. Maheshwaran refused to sell snacks to the children based on the decision taken by the members of his caste.
A police inquiry found some youths of both the castes had a tussle at a wedding. Afterwards,the police booked some youths of intermediate caste under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and registered a case against some Scheduled Caste youths also based on a complaint from the other group. A meeting held to restore peace in the village and withdraw the complaints filed by the both sides ended in a failure.
After this development, intermediate caste families conducted a meeting and decided to sell nothing to the SC families from their shops.
Maheshwaran was arrested by Karivalamvanthanallur police. The Revenue Department officials sealed his shop for reportedly practising untouchability. Further investigation is going on.
