Caste row: 5 accused debarred from village

MADURAI: Five men accused of practicing caste discrimination with some Dalit students at Panchankulam village in Sankarankovil taluk of Tenkasi district, were barred from entering the village.

While three men, including a shopkeeper S Maheswaran, K Ramakrishnan and Kumar of the village, were arrested by the Karivalamvandanallur police in connection with the incident, a hunt is on to nab two others, sources said. Tenkasi SP R Krishnaraj hoped that the accused, who’re absconding, would be held.

Meanwhile, second Additional District Judge, Tirunelveli V Padmanabhan on Tuesday night issued orders debarring the five accused from entering Panchankulam village for a period of six months.

The issue came to light after a video showed a group of Dalit students in school uniform asking for eatables from a shopkeeper at Panchankulam. But, he refuses to sell them citing a decision at a village meeting not to sell items from his shop to Dalits. Following this, five persons were booked and legal action was initiated. In line with this, the court issued orders barring them from entering the village.

Meanwhile, the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department gathered personal details of affected nine students to create bank accounts to offer victim compensation.