Two persons were arrested by the Tamil Nadu police on Saturday in connection with a video shot in Tenkasi district where a shopkeeper is seen turning away kids belonging to a particular community after denying them candies citing their caste.
The incident took place in K V Nallur area in Tenkasi in southern Tamil Nadu where kids from the Adi Dravidar Government School went to a near-by shop to buy candy and other eatables. The shopkeeper Maheswaran and the village head Ramachandra Murthy were arrested by the police after the video went viral. Authorities also sealed the shop owned by Maheswaran.
The shopkeeper, whose face isn’t visible in the video, is heard telling the school students that they shouldn’t come to buy candies again.
“Don’t buy any candy from here. Go to school. You shouldn’t buy candies from any of the shops here. Go and tell people at home that the shopkeepers aren’t giving eatables. We won’t give and there is a restriction,” the shopkeeper is heard telling the children.
“Restriction?” a child asks innocently to the shopkeeper who says, “yes.” Then the student asks, “what restriction?” “The village meeting has decided not to give eatables to people from your street. So, leave. Go,” the shopkeeper says after which the group of children leave the place without buying anything.
The Tenkasi District Police said the discriminatory video pertaining to KV Nallur area has been found circulating in social media platforms today.
“Taking cognisance of it immediately, an FIR has been registered and will be investigated. Action is being taken as per law,” the district police said.
The incident sent shockwaves across Tamil Nadu, which boasts of being the land of social justice and social inclusiveness, as it shows untouchability still being practiced in the state.
The video clip also surfaced on the day the state was celebrating Social Justice Day on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Dravidian legend E V R Periyar.
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