Tamil Nadu: Priest beats up Dalit guard for refusing to hand over temple keys, incident caught on CCTV

Chennai. A Dalit guard assigned to the security of the Sri Subrahmanya Swamy Devasthanam temple in Tiruchendu has faced the wrath of the priest. According to media reports, the priest asked the guard for the key, which the guard did not accept. It is alleged that the priest got angry and fought with the Dalit. The matter was caught on CCTV. However, the guard has not filed any case in this beating incident.

According to media reports, the guard refused to give the key to the priest without permission from the authorities. The priest who attacked was identified as Jaymalini Kumar. Police personnel and two other priests are also seen in the CCTV footage. The video shows that there is a lot of fighting between the priest and the guard and when the situation worsens Jaymalini hits and pushes the guard.

Tamil Nadu temple priest hits up Dalit security guard for refusing to give key to main gate without permission from concerned authorities. #Tiruchendur #DalitLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/vFZP8Uyf3Z

— Bharti SP (@adhirabharati) November 1, 2020

Fear of losing the job to the guard
According to reports circulating in the media, the guard working under the contract has not complained yet. However, Vidhuthalai Chiruthaigal Kachi, Thoothukudi district secretary Murasu Thamizappan, instead of the guard, submitted a complaint to the Tiruchendur temple police and applied to register an FIR under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Allegations of intimidation of the worshiper have been made
In his complaint, Murasu accused the priest of threatening the guards. He said in his complaint that Kumar threatened to fire the guard. He wrote, the priest also assaulted a Dalit. FIR should be registered considering these. In a conversation with the English website The News Minute, Murasu said, ‘I have spoken to the guard. He has three daughters and is in danger of losing his job. He doesn’t want to talk about it. In such a situation I have complained to the police, but till now I have not been given the copy of the FIR. He said that the guard did not give the key due to the corona virus.

He informed that he will meet the Tehsildar on Saturday and the Collectorate on Monday in this regard. He said, this act shows the racist mentality of the priests. ‘Such people should not be appointed as priests in temples.’Undefined

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Tags:, CCTV, dalit, Pujari, Tamil Nadu