Tamil Nadu: Funeral procession blocked, Dalits airdrop body for cremation
A video has gone viral showing the incident where the dead body of the man had to be tied and lowered from the bridge.
A 46-year-old Dalit man's dead body had to be lowered from a steep 20-feet-high bridge over a river for completing his last rites after members of the local upper-caste community refused to allow the funeral procession to pass through their land.
The body of N Kuppam, who died on Saturday, had to be taken to an old funeral ground but the route to the destination passes through the agricultural lands of some upper caste locals, who denied entry to the procession.
As a dozen men slowly lowered the stretcher from the bridge, garlands could be seen falling off the dead body.
The incident, which unfolded at Vaniyambadi taluk of Vellore district in Tamil Nadu, is a representation of how Dalits are discriminated by members of the local upper case community in the village; the Dalit community does not even have a crematorium of its own.
A video has gone viral showing the incident where the dead body of the man had to be tied and lowered from the bridge. This, however, is not the first time such an incident occurred, according to the community which added that they have faced similar discrimination in the past.
Some of them even said that this is the only way for them to cremate bodies and that there is no alternative way.
Government officials from the region said the investigation will be conducted to find out whether such an incident occurred and strict action would be taken against anyone found guilty.