In the small village of Lakshumpalli in the Yadiki Mandal of Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district, a small Dalit community struggles on two fronts when a death occurs.
The first is, obviously, the grief from the loss of a loved one, but there is also the struggle to complete their last rites.
This is the story of around 50 families from the Madiga community who reside in a Scheduled Caste (SC) colony in the village.
Allegedly, some members of the local Reddy community have blocked the path to the burial ground from the SC colony and, subsequently, converted the burial ground itself into a chilli farm!
In efforts to gain access to the burial ground, the SC families have approached public representatives and government officials, but allege inaction.
As a result, the Dalits began a strike on Wednesday, 17 January, demanding justice. However, they decided to withdraw it following assurances by the deputy tahsildar.
This story was originally published in thesouthfirst.com. Read the full story here .