Six caste Hindus get jail for abusing Dalit school cook
Six caste Hindus get jail for abusing Dalit school cook
M.U.H
30/11/202521
TIRUPPUR: A Dalit school meal cook, who faced discrimination at the hands of upper caste parents, transferred at least five times, and struggled to perform her duty for 19 years, has finally tasted justice as a court has handed out jail terms to her abusers.
The special court for trial of cases under the SC/ST (PoA) Act in Tiruppur on Friday sentenced six persons, including a woman, to two years of imprisonment for caste discrimination and other offences.
The convicted persons were identified as P Palanisamy Gounder (74), N Sakthivel (55), R Shanmugam (53), C Vellingiri (64), A Duraisamy (70), and V Seetha Lakshmi (49).
The victim, P Pappal, told TNIE on Friday that she has been facing caste abuse ever since her appointment as a government cook in 2006. Sources said Pappal (49) — a resident of Thirumalai Goundampalayam— started working as a noon meal cook at Kandayampalayam primary school in 2006, but was transferred to Kulle Goundan Pudur primary school within 15 days after facing opposition from the parents of dominant communities who claimed that their children would not eat the food cooked by an untouchable.
‘Verdict will prevent future caste atrocities’
As she faced similar harassment at Kulle Goundan Pudur, she was moved to Vaiyaburi Goundan Pudur school and later to a government primary school at Ochampalayam, where she worked for 12 years. On July 1, 2018 she was transferred to the Thirumalai Goundampalayam primary school to an existing vacancy, but after protests erupted again, she was moved to a government high school in the locality after 15 days. She was hounded there too and on July 18, caste Hindu parents locked the school gate and staged a protest seeking her transfer.
The incident triggered protests by anti-untouchability organisations the following day, and her transfer was subsequently cancelled. A complaint was later filed on behalf of the victim with the district administration on July 18. Based on this, the Cheyur police registered a case against 35 people under various provisions, including the SC/ST (PoA) Act, and arrested eight of them.
After the trial, Special Judge M Suresh convicted six of the accused and sentence them to two-year jail term and imposed a fine of `5,000 each on the six convicts. Twenty-five accused were acquitted, while four others had died during the course of the hearing.
Speaking to TNIE after the verdict, Pappal said, “My husband Palanisamy is a wage labourer. We have a son and a daughter. Due to poverty, I approached the government for a job and was appointed as a cook in 2006.
But I’ve been facing discrimination from dominant community members from the very first day. I believe that this verdict will help prevent such caste atrocities in the future,” she added. Senior advocate Bhavani B Mohan, counsel for Pappal, said, “We are not satisfied with this judgment. We will be filing an appeal.
