Practice morally and ethically offending: Minister
VILLUPURAM: A 13-year-old girl belonging to the Scheduled Caste has been dedicated to a local temple as a ‘Devadasi’ by her father on the advice of a temple priest at Su.Kollur in Thirukkovilur block near here.
A student of eighth standard in a government school, she was dedicated at a ritual called ‘pottu kattu’ on Monday in the presence of the villagers.
Condemning the incident, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi MLA D. Ravikumar informed Social Welfare Minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna, who instructed Collector Brajendra Navnit and Superintendent of Police A. Amalraj to take action against the persons concerned.
The police arrested the girl’s father Ramakrishnan (55), a daily wage earner, temple priest Rajan (25) and two others.
Practice slammed
The Minister told The Hindu over phone that such a practice was morally and ethically offending and deserved severest punishment.
Mr. Ravikumar said such a practice might have been in vogue among tribals during the 18th Century but was unheard of in the Scheduled Caste community. A member of the Social Reforms Committee, Mr. Ravikumar said he would raise the issue during the committee meeting.
He said though the perpetrators deserved severe punishment, there was no point in taking action against Ramakrishnan, whose only fault was his gullibility. He called upon the Government to launch poverty alleviation programme and intensify the girl literacy programme to improve the lot of the people in the region.
Counselling
The Collector said suitable action would be taken against those who took recourse to such a practice and proper counselling would be given to the people there.
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