Six men jailed for stopping Dalit woman from cooking
A Tamil Nadu court has sentenced six villagers to two years in prison for stopping a Dalit woman from cooking at a government school. The special court on Friday pronounced its verdict on the incident that took place in 2018. The case under the SC-ST Act has been continued. Palaniswami Gounder, Shakthivel, Shanmugam, Vellangiri, Duraiswamy and Seetha Lakshmi have been sentenced under a caste discrimination case.
The government in Tirumalai Goundampalayam made 44-year-old Pappal a cook. However, the six people who were punished are the parents of the students. The accused expressed their opinion that they should not cook rice for their children. In the process, Pappal was harassed. Due to this, the Tamil Nadu Anti-Untouchability Front launched a protest. Based on this, the Chaiyur police registered a case against 35 people under the SC and ST Act.
During the court proceedings on Friday, Judicial Magistrate M Suresh sentenced the accused to two years in prison. He also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000. 25 people were acquitted due to lack of evidence. Four others died during the trial. Six were lodged in the Coimbatore Central Jail.
