All the five accused in Panjankulam untouchability case have been prohibited from entering the village for six months.
After a shopkeeper refused to sell snacks to Scheduled Caste children of Panjankulam in Tenkasi district recently following the ‘decision’ taken by the elders of an intermediate caste, the police registered a case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the shopkeeper, Maheswaran, one Ramachandran alias Murthy, Kumar, Sudha and Murugan.
While Maheswaran, Murthy and Kumar were arrested, the police are searching for the other two.
The police invoked Section 10 (1) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, under which the accused could be barred from entering the village. The police also filed a petition before a special court to bar the accused from entering the village for one year.
Hearing the plea on Wednesday, Judge Padmanabhan restrained the five persons from entering Panjankulam.
