Chennai, March 4: A Scheduled Caste Panchayat president of Palaiyur in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu lodged a complaint to the State Chief Secretary and District Collector that she was harassed by upper caste people due to her being from an SC community.
The panchayat president, S.Vidhya in a complaint to the Chief Secretary said that the police have yet to take a case of human excreta found in a drinking water tank in an area dominated by upper caste people.
Vidhya said that the complaint on human excreta in the water tank was raised in December 2022, but the police did not register a case citing lack of evidence.
The panchayat president also stated that Palaiyur panchayat has three villages – Karisalpatti, Kattarapatti and Palaiyur. Vidhya pointed out that while Palaiyur village has more SC community people, both the other villages are dominated by upper caste and minorities.
She said that the water tank was deliberately contaminated by someone to tarnish her image as she belong to the SC community.
Vidhya while speaking to IANS said: “After becoming panchayat president, I’ve faced several issues. There were instances wherein human excreta was found when I entered my office room. There were also instances when human excreta was mixed with drinking water and I had lodged complaint but no one was brought to book.”
She said that after she assumed office, a compound wall was constructed around the panchayat building and after that, many incidents of throwing human excreta on the walls of the office stopped.
Madurai district collector Dr Aneesh Shekar said that a detailed inquiry is being conducted based on her complaint. The district police superintendent also said that investigation is on regarding the complaint on human excreta in water tank.
