In Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district, a group of Dalit children on their way to school were stopped from using a village mud lane in Kollangarai, an incident that has triggered anger after a video of it went viral.
The footage shows an elderly woman trying to block the children with a stick as they walked along the path. A young man accompanying them is seen pushing the stick aside and continuing with the children despite her repeated attempts to stop them.
Chellakannu, state president of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front, condemned the incident and said the woman had used the slur ‘eliya saathi’ while preventing the children from passing. He explained that the lane is a public mud path, officially recorded as a ‘vandi paathai’ or vehicle route.
“The path was recently encroached upon by locals who planted banana saplings, which forced the children to take a one-and-a-half kilometre detour around a waterbody. For 18 days, the children could not use the original route until youths from the area intervened,” Chellakannu said.
He also pointed out that villagers had complained to authorities about the encroachment three months ago. The lane was restored only after intervention by the Tahsildar.
Police have begun an enquiry into the matter but have not yet registered a First Information Report (FIR).
