Chennai: Besides ordering a detailed probe into the incident of a woman dalit panchayat President of a village near Chennai not being allowed to hoist national flag on Independence Day, Thiruvallur Collector Mageswari has suspended panchayat Secretary Sasikumar.
It is alleged that Sasikumar, along with the husband of the Vice-President of the Aathupakkam panchayat, had stopped President Amrutham from hoisting the national flag on Independence Day.
Mageswari said Sasikumar has been suspended and two people have been arrested by the police. ‘We will monitor that no such incident repeats again in the district,’ she said.
Meanwhile, a reporter for a Tamil news channel was allegedly beaten up by office-bearers of the same panchayat on Tuesday, after he visited the place to report on the caste-based discrimination faced by Amrutham.
Amurtham has alleged that the former panchayat chief still held sway over community affairs and that she has been at the receiving end of discrimination and threats. She that she needs protection as she feels threatened because she belongs to the SC/ST community.