NAGAPATTINAM: As the D-type irrigation canal of the Cauvery in Keelamaruthandanallur of Mayiladuthurai witnessed flooding on Tuesday, a group of Dalits who took a body for last rites to the graveyard were stranded.
They only managed to cross it by swimming with the body. According to sources, when the kin, S Aiyyammal (80), a Dalit woman of Anandhathandavapuram, tried to reach the graveyard, they found swimming across the canal was the only option.
Speaking to Express, G Manickavel of Anandhathandavapuram said, “For the 200 families of Anandhathandavapuram, we have a common graveyard in Keelamaruthandanallur, about 700 metres away from our hamlet. As the graveyard lies at the other end of the Ayyanar river’s irrigation canal, we have to cross it to reach there.”