The Tamil Nadu government has ordered an inquiry into allegations of caste-based discrimination against four Dalit sanitation workers in Melpathi village, Villupuram district. The move follows a petition to the Chief Minister’s special cell, prompting the Home Department’s deputy secretary to direct the Villupuram Superintendent of Police to investigate the claims.
G Muniyammal (47), one of the workers, alleged that she and three colleagues — K Athilakshmi, S Nagaraj, and P Govindaraj — were repeatedly harassed by Melpathi panchayat president R Manivel and some Caste Hindu residents. They claim they were forced to clean human faeces with bare hands and subjected to verbal abuse and intimidation, especially after a temple-entry incident in April 2023 involving a Dalit family.
“We were mocked, threatened, and assigned demeaning tasks. They made us feel like we didn’t belong here,” Muniyammal told The New Indian Express. “We were even forced to sign blank papers that were later used to claim we had withdrawn our complaint.”
The workers filed a police complaint against Manivel in May this year. They later alleged that officers coerced them into signing fabricated documents to make it appear as if they had dropped the case. They also accused police of siding with Manivel, who allegedly attempted to assault one of the workers while on duty.
Despite a revenue team visiting the village for a fact-finding mission, the workers were subsequently reassigned to only Dalit-majority streets, effectively removing them from Caste Hindu areas. “They told us we wouldn’t face trouble if we stopped working there,” said Athilakshmi.
The workers have demanded that action be taken against Manivel under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and called for disciplinary measures against the police officers involved.
However, Villupuram SP P Saravanan said no action had been taken since the complaint was officially withdrawn “in the presence of the Koliyanur Block Development Officer.”
