A Tamil TV channel reporter, who had gone to a village in Tiruvallur to cover news about the alleged discrimination against a Dalit woman panchayat president, was attacked on Tuesday.
According to a media report, V. Amritham, 60, Aathupakkam panchayat president, was allegedly prevented from hoisting the national flag on Independence Day.
M. Ezhilarasu, a reporter with Puthiya Thalaimurai, had gone to Aathupakkam village to gather news about the incident. Angered over this, he was assaulted by Sasikumar, panchayat secretary, and Vijayakumar, the husband of Revathy, who is the panchayat vice-president.
Based on a complaint from Mr. Ezhilarasu, the police have filed a case against the two.
Meanwhile, Tiruvallur Collector Maheshwari Ravikumar has begun an inquiry into the alleged discrimination meted out to Ms. Amritham, based on a complaint from her.
When contacted, Ms. Amritham’s son whose name is also Sasikumar, said the headmistress of the Aathupakkam elementary school called a few days before Independence Day and wanted his mother to hoist the flag. Later, she told them the plan had been cancelled due to COVID-19. But eventually the flag was hoisted in the school, he said. “In the high school too, the flag was hoisted but we were not even invited,” he said.
He said the panchayat staff also did not cooperate when Ms. Amritham expressed her desire to hoist the flag in the panchayat office. “They told us there was no such practice. My mother was disappointed,” Mr. Sasikumar added.
