TENKASI: A kangaroo court of the Nadar community in Sambavarvadakarai town on Thursday allegedly prevented an ostracised family from cremating the body of an old man at the common crematorium, illegally forcing them to pay a penalty of `2.1 lakh before allowing the cremation. The police allegedly advised the aggrieved family to pay the penalty.
The deceased was identified as K V Ramaraj (85), father of R Senthil Vel, whose family is one of eight families ostracised by the community just for speaking to the family of another villager, Vignesh.
According to CPM area secretary R Pattabiraman, Vignesh’s family was first ostracised by the naattamai, P Venkatesh, after he defied the kangaroo court’s ruling in a land dispute a few years ago.
Ramaraj died around 11.30 pm on Wednesday.
“When Senthil and his family tried to cremate the body at the common crematorium, members of the community got in the way. Some people removed the logs stacked for the funeral. Police personnel who inquired into the matter advised Senthil’s family to obey the kangaroo court’s order and pay the penalty,” Pattabiraman said.
S Puvana, daughter-in-law of the deceased, told TNIE that the kangaroo court had ordered them to pay a penalty of `2.1 lakh to cremate the body.
After waiting for hours, the family paid the amount and cremated the body. Vignesh, who opposed paying the penalty, was allegedly forced to fall at the feet of the kangaroo court administrators and was ordered not to attend Ramaraj’s funeral, even though the deceased was his paternal uncle.
“If I attend the funeral, Senthil’s family will face severe action from the kangaroo court. So, I avoided it. Two of the eight ostracised families have paid fines so far. The illegal court confiscates mobile phones during its sessions to prevent photographs from being taken. They even expelled an intelligence wing police officer from the meeting on Thursday,” Vignesh told TNIE.
District Collector Ranjeet Singh could not be reached over phone. Superintendent of Police S Ashok Kumar said that his administration would look into the matter and take necessary steps.
TNIE reported the ostracism in February 2025, following which the district administration and police stated on their respective X handles that legal action was being taken against Venkatesh and others.