After the fourth round of peace talks, Collector C Palani said on Wednesday scheduled caste members will be let in the Shri Dharmaraja Draupadi temple at Melpathi village.
Deal struck, Dalits can now enter temple in Villupuram village
About three peace meetings were earlier held after the SC members said the caste Hindus prevented them entry and assaulted three SC members of the village during a festival held on April 7.
VILLUPURAM: After the fourth round of peace talks, Collector C Palani said on Wednesday scheduled caste members will be let in the Shri Dharmaraja Draupadi temple at Melpathi village. The fourth round of peace talks were led by the Collector, SP (in-charge) N Mohanraj and Revenue Divisional Officer (Villupuram) S Ravichandran.
About three peace meetings were earlier held after the SC members said the caste Hindus prevented them entry and assaulted three SC members of the village during a festival held on April 7. “We have talked to both the parties and arrived at a compromise now. The caste Hindus have settled to not resist the SC members’ entry to the Draupati Amman temple anymore. The exact day for the temple entry hasn’t been decided as yet but will happen at the earliest. The SC members will be facilitated with proper security and protection during the event,” said collector Palani.
However, the officials said no action had been planned on the FIR that was registered on April 12, against the accused who assaulted the SC members. Further, the collector said the government undertaking of the temple under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department has not been affirmed due to an official glitch and that a case regarding that is pending at the Madras High Court.
But the temple entry move is taken as a measure to resolve the social dispute prevailing in the village, he further said. On April 7, three members of the SC community in the village were assaulted by caste Hindus for entering Shri Dharmaraja Draupadi Amman temple in Melpathi, stating they violated a tradition that was followed for many generations. Following the incident, the SC community staged a protest seeking justice for the assault. An FIR was registered five days later, at Valavanur police station but no accused was arrested until now.