Intervening in the caste conflict at Nagapalayam, Erode Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) Sugumar on Friday announced that members of the dominant caste in the area have been barred from using a road across the Dalit Colony for funeral processions.
By June end, a wall built along the main road in Ward 1 of Nagapalayam in Kodumudi town panchayat was opened up, without any hitches, at two places following appeals made by the Dalits, who complained that the wall blocked access to the main road, the RDO said.
In a bid to resolve the conflict, the two groups were also invited for several peace meetings. It was against this background, the RDO pointed out, that on July 7, some members of the dominant caste entered the Dalit Colony on a funeral procession to a burial ground nearby.
This reportedly hurt the feelings of the Dalit community in the area, who preferred a complaint over the issue to the RDO. A subsequent inquiry showed that a pucca road was laid near the colony, at a cost of `4 lakh, to enable the members of the dominant caste access the burial ground. However, on July 7, they used a road through the Dalit Colony instead for the funeral procession, reasoning that the owner of a property that the pucca road cut across, did not allow them to access the particular route.
But the inquiry found that the land owner did not deny them access to the route.
Hence, the members of the dominant case should not use the route through the Dalit Colony for funeral processions, the RDO said. The RDO has also booked a case against nine persons from either group in an effort to diffuse the conflict. Each of them would have to submit bonds worth `10,000, assuring that they would act as per the provisions of the Indian Constitution.
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