Commission asks for factual report from District Collector Madurai on the auctioning of a Dalit woman Panchayat President

NHRC has asked for factual report from the District Collector Madurai, Tamilnadu on the alleged auction of a Dalit woman Panchayat President in the district. Taking suo-motu cognizance of a news report published in the Indian Express on Nov. 19, 2006 the Commission said, if the contents of the report are true, they raise serious issue of violation of human rights of a dalit woman. The Indian Express report said that a Madurai village, Kodikulam, auctioned its president, a poor illiterate dalit woman, for Rs. 2.16 lakh . The report said that the woman Balamani Veeman was elected Panchayat President as the post was reserved for dalit woman. She was auctioned off despite pleas that she would handover her earnings to the village committee.
The report also said that the village had decided that the highest bidder could use Balamani as a rubber stamp for signing agreements and contracts for the village and take the commissions for himself. Balamani was reportedly auctioned by upper caste elders, though she and her husband protested the auction.