Caste row: Police convince Veeralur women to bury body

Sources said that Unnamalai (70) of Veeralur Colony died on Wednesday. As all men of the locality had gone into hiding following a clash between colony residents and caste Hindus over funeral procession through the streets of the latter’s area, women residents of the Veeralur Colony carried the body on a cot and placed it in front of the police station demanding that they act justly and file cases properly.

As both sides refused to budge, police registered cases against 21 persons and arrested them. Fearing the same, other men went into hiding. So when Unnamalai died, there was not a single male resident present in the locality to conduct her last rites.

The colony women continued their vigil throughout the night with the body in front of the station and on Thursday they agreed to bury the body following peace talks held by the police.

Vellore range DIG Anne Vijaya said police presence would continue in the village till normalcy was restored.