Two yrs after clash, Melpathi temple opens doors to public

The Shri Dharmaraja Draupathi Amman temple in Melpathi village in the district was reopened on Thursday, a year and 10 months after it was sealed following the attack on a Dalit family by the caste Hindus allegedly for entering the temple.

- Krithika Srinivasan @ Villupuram

The Madras High Court had issued an order to reopen the temple on February 20.

After opening the temple at 5 am, the authorities made an announcement around 6 am saying, it is open for public worship. Shortly after, a few caste Hindus, including children, went inside the temple, followed by at least 80 people from the Dalit community. ADSP V Thirumal and police officials accompanied the Dalits. The temple was closed around 7.45 am, 45 minutes beyond the scheduled closure time of 7 am. The temple has about 12 CCTV cameras for safety and surveillance purposes.