Elected panchayat leader made to sit on floor in meeting: Cuddalore official held for discriminating against Dalit woman

After a photo of the Therku Thittai panchayat Dalit woman president S Rajeswari, sitting on the ground, while other members were seated on chairs at a panchayat meeting, went viral and she lodged a complaint against the vice-president Mohan Raj, a caste Hindu, the District Collector Chandra Sekhar Sakhamuri and Superintendent of Police M Sree Abhinav conducted an inquiry with the president, vice president and other members on Saturday.

After the inquiry, panchayat secretary Sinduja and Mohan Raj were suspended under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. However, later, the Bhuvanagiri police arrested Sinduja. Rajeswari complained about the harassment and discrimination she had been facing from caste Hindus, ever since she was elected president in January this year.

The District Collector said that the incident took place in July and was brought to the notice of the administration now and immediate action was taken. He said, had they known about it earlier, justice wouldn’t have been delayed. Since the panchayat secretary failed to bring it to the notice of the district administration he was suspended.

Meanwhile, the Collector reiterated that equality must be maintained among the elected members and legal action would be initiated against those who break this rule among the people’s representatives. He asked the Block Development Officers to monitor all the panchayats and create awareness against such incidents and ensure it doesn’t recur in the future.

The Collector urged only the elected members to take part in the meeting and others (including the spouses of the elected representatives) to stay away from the meeting. “If needed, the panchayat meeting process would be monitored through CCTV cameras,” added the Collector.