Father-son held for refusing hair cut to Dalit teen in TN's Dharmapuri

COIMBATORE: A father and son duo was arrested under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, for refusing a hair cut in their saloon to a 17-year-old Dalit boy in Dharmapuri district of the state.

Police said that the boy from Kelaparai village near Harur had gone to the saloon along with his friend for a hair cut on May 9 evening.

“Hairdresser C Yogeshwaran, 24, refused a hair cut to the boy as he was a Dalit. A group of friends then visited the saloon and questioned the hairdresser for refusing a haircut, following which an argument ensued," police said.

Yogeshwaran and his father Chinnaiyan, 62, who was in the saloon, claimed that they have never cut hair for Dalits, police said, adding that the duo had remarked that they wouldn't care even if a complaint was lodged, and asked the Dalit teen to cut his hair elsewhere.

The accused father-son duo belong to the Navithar community (MBC).

Based on a complaint from the victim, the Harur police registered a case under sections of the SC/ST Act and arrested the duo on Saturday night.