A video of a Revenue Department staff, a Dalit, falling at the feet of a caste Hindu in Ottarpalayam village in Annur taluk has triggered protest and outrage after the video went viral.
The video shows Ottarpalayam thandalkarar, Muthusamy falling at the feet of a caste Hindu, identified as Gopinath, to apologise for what he had said against the latter. In an audio clip doing the rounds, Mr. Muthusamy explains that Mr. Gopinath had objected to what he said when the latter intervened to prevent a verbal duel between the village administrative officer and Mr. Muthusamy.
As he wanted to avoid an escalation of the issue, Mr. Muthusamy said, he intervened and also apologised as he was always respectful to caste Hindus. Mr. Gopinath had gone to the village administrative officer’s office to sort out an issue concerning a title deed.
The video clipping that went viral also showed Mr. Gopinath accepting Mr. Muthusamy’s apology and saying that he too could have erred.
Condemning the incident, Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam general secretary K. Ramakrishnan demanded that the Coimbatore Rural Police immediately register a case under Act and arrest Mr. Gopinath. The outfit also staged a protest in Annur on Saturday morning.
Mr. Muthusamy could not be reached for his comments at the time of filing the report. A Revenue official said an inquiry into the issue was on and that she would be able to make a comment after the completion of the inquiry.
Collector G.S. Sameeran could not be reached for his comments.
