Video: Dalit Tamil Nadu official falls at DMK councillor's feet, BJP hits out

A video from Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district showing a Scheduled Caste government officer falling at the feet of a DMK councillor inside Tindivanam Municipality office has triggered outrage and political backlash.

The officer, Muniyappan, is seen apologising to councillor Ramya Raja as voices in the room asked him to say sorry.

BJP state president K Annamalai shared the video on social media, accusing the DMK of hypocrisy. “The DMK parades as a party of social justice but practices only social injustice,” he posted.

Following the incident, Muniyappan lodged a complaint with Tindivanam police against councillor Ramya and her husband, Raja.

In his police complaint, Muniyappan alleged that Ramya Raja asked him to fetch a document, and when it took him some time to find it, she and her husband, Raja, hurled casteist abuses at him. He said they threatened him and used slurs, calling him a “colony payyan” and a “Pariah.”

Muniyappan further alleged that later in the evening, senior officers convened a meeting and asked him to apologise to the councillor. According to his complaint, he was also instructed to fall at her feet and apologise, which was captured in the viral video.

Responding to the controversy, Ramya Raja told India Today that she had not forced the officer to fall at her feet. “Nobody asked him to fall at my feet. He got emotional and fell on his own,” she said.

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