Kumbabhishekam row: 6 women attempt suicide

COIMBATORE: Six caste Hindu women attempted suicide by consuming poison mixed ‘payasam’ on Monday night opposing an inter-caste couple participating in the temple consecration in their village in Dharmapuri.

For the consecration of the ‘Mariamman’ temple to be held after 13 years on Wednesday, the caste Hindu villagers collected Rs 5,000 from every household of 250 odd families in Veppamarathur village near Bommidi.

However, the villagers did not collect money from Suresh, 37, a caste Hindu from their village, who was married to a Dalit girl hailing from Parayapatti village near Morappur. Therefore, the couple sought the intervention of Bommidi police to allow them to participate in the event.

The issue had been simmering for several years and in 2013, the Bommidi police registered a case under provisions of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and other relevant sections against 22 persons including former village panchayat president Ranganathan and then village head Periyasamy for ordering the couple against entering the temple.

Meanwhile, on Monday night, the six caste Hindu women prepared ‘payasam’ near the temple and consumed it by mixing poison. They were immediately rushed to Dharmapuri Government Medical College and Hospital. As the incident triggered tension, former minister P Palaniappan, Pappireddipatti AIADMK MLA A Govindasamy and PMK MLA SP Venkateshwaran visited the women undergoing treatment in the hospital.

Peace talks were held between two groups of people in the presence of district administration authorities and police officials on Tuesday to reach a consensus, therefore allowing the couple to participate in the temple function. Police continued to be deployed in large numbers in the village as a precaution.