Dalit man's funeral procession denied in Vellore

A 46-year-old Dalit man's dead body had to be lowered from a 20-feet-high bridge over a river for completing last rites after members of the upper caste community allegedly refused to allow the funeral procession to pass through their land. The incident from Vellore district in Tamil Nadu comes at a time when rains had led to the temporary closure of Adi Dravidar funeral ground. The body of N Kuppam, who died on Saturday, had to be taken to an old funeral ground but the route to the destination passes through the agricultural lands of some upper caste locals.