A tense situation prevailed in Villupuram after a clash broke out between Caste Hindus and Dalit community members after the former refused to permit the latter into Shri Dharmaraja Draupati Amman temple at Melpathi village on Monday. The Draupati Amman temple is under the control of Tamil Nadu's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department.
According to IANS, Kathiravan (23), a Dalit youth, visited the temple along with his two siblings. However, he was stopped and assaulted by the Caste Hindus. They also prevented him from entering the temple.
Kathiravan, as per IANS, said: "Caste Hindus prevented us from entering the Shri Dharmaraja Draupati Amman temple and even beat us up. They said that we are not even allowed to take photographs of the idol, leave alone providing entry."
The Dalits were denied entry into the temple for the past 70 years. However, the district authorities allowed the Dalits to entry the temple six months back. During this time, the temple members placed a curtain to prevent the Dalits from seeing the idol.
Yet, the Dalit youth was denied entry into the temple.
On Monday, a clash broke out between the two groups after caste Hindus hurled abuses and slurs. Following this, heavy police patrol rushed to the spot and a contingent has been kept in place to prevent any untoward incident in the area.
The District Collector and district police had already conducted one round of discussions with the Dalit leadership and the caste Hindus on Saturday but could not reach a conclusion.
Tamil Nadu Police have been given stringent instructions to deploy heavy police pose on the areas in Mepathi village and surroundings in Villupuram district to prevent any untoward incidents.
The Melpathi village is divided into two areas - 'Oor' where the caste Hindus reside and 'cheri' where the Dalits stay.
(With IANS inputs)