Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu):In a clear incident of caste discrimination,a dalit panchayat official was forced to fall at the feet of a upper caste man seeking his forgiveness. The video went viral on social media, prompting the police to initiate investigation into this ugly episode. An argument over verification of property details took an ugly turn when the upper caste applicant threatened the official of oppressed community and also hurled caste slurs at Ottarpalayam village of Coimbatore's Annur taluk in Tamil Nadu.
Kalaiselvi, is the Village Administrative Officer of the village and Muthusamy, a resident of the same village, is her assistant. Gopinath from Kobrasipuram of the same panchayat hailing from the upper caste, visited the village office on Friday for verifying his property details. The VAO, however, advised Gopinath to apply online first before visiting the office.
But Gopinath got into an argument with Kalaiselvi and started intimidating her. At this point of time, Muthusamy intervened and advised Gopinath to behave himself in front of a woman official. Infuriated, Gopinath warned Muthusamy of dire consequences like he would be removed from the job and forced out of the village. He had also allegedly hurled caste slurs at Muthusamy. Terrified, Muthusamy fell at the feet of Gopinath begging for his forgiveness even as the VAO tried to stop him.