A Dalit family submitted a petition to Collector Ashish Kumar on Monday alleging that they were being excommunicated by fellow Dalits in their village.
Head of the family, Muthukrishnan of Mullakadu, near Thoothukudi, said when his brother Thangamuthu got married a year back, his uncle Gunasekaran, who was the panchayat president, was not invited.
As revenge, Gunasekaran, refused to receive donations from the family for the temple festival held in their area, said Muthukrishnan. Gunasekaran had instead told Thangamuthu to pay a fine of `5,000, alleged Muthukrishnan.
When the incident was reported to the Collector and Muthayapuram police, a peace meeting, mediated by the sub-collector was organised and a donation of `2,001 was accepted from Thangamuthu.
Muthukrishnan said, even after the peace meeting, the situation did not improve. Now, his family is not invited for any functions, and villagers prevent invitations sent to him from outside from reaching him.
Muthukrishnan said he had filed a writ case with the Madurai bench of Madras High Court, which directed the district administration, Superintendent of Police and the Muthayapuram inspector to rescue the family.
Muthukrishnan said after the court order, three persons of the village, Muthu Ganapathy, Gunasekar and Sandhanaraj, formed a kangaroo court and had ordered that villagers do not maintain links with the family. They had also decided that donations from the family should not be accepted, said Muthukrishnan.
On Monday, he petitioned the Muthayapuram police to arrest the persons responsible for the excommunication of his family and also urged the Collector to help set the situation right ahead of the upcoming temple festival that is scheduled to be held on 28 August.