Tribal man in TN attacked for having tea at upper caste man’s shop

Mangalampettai/ Tamil Nadu: An upper caste man in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore district was arrested on Tuesday after he hurled casteist slurs and beat up a nomadic tribal man for having tea with his grandson at the man’s shop.

Kuppan and his grandson Deva, both belonging to Narikuravar community, went to a teashop in Mangalampettai early morning Tuesday and bought for them tea, according to the police.

Kuppan, who is a member of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), resides in Pallipattu Samathuvapuram area, The News Minute reported.

The shop owner Annadurai, belonging to the dominant Udayar caste, became furious when he saw the Narikuravar man and grandson having tea at his shop.

Annadurai warned Kuppan not to visit his shop again, according to the FIR.

When Kuppan questioned the outrageous behaviour , Annadurai reportedly shouted at him ‘how could a Narikuravar man talk back’, before beating him up with a chair, the report said.

Afterwards Annadurai went on to allegedly threaten Kuppan’s grandson, when Deva sought the reason for beating Kuppan.

Kuppan received first aid from Virudhachalam Government Hospital, before filing a complaint at Mangalampettai police station.

Mangalampettai police arrested Annadurai based on Kuppan’s complaint and registered a case under various Sections of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act 2015.

Members of the Narikuravar nomadic tribal community previously faced caste discrimination on March 30 when they were denied entry to a movie theartre in Chennai to watch the movie ‘Pathu Thala’.

Police registered case against two theatre staff over complaint from the community members, just as a video of the incident went viral, causing backlash to the theatre.