A dalit panchayat president in Tamil Nadu was allegedly beaten with slippers for hoisting the national tricolour as part of Independence Day celebrations, police said in Sivaganga on Saturday.

Braving opposition from a section of villagers, Sottathatti panchayat president K Raju was presiding over a meeting after hoisting the national flag at a school when a group of people assembled in the panchayat office and abused him referring to his caste.

When Raju came out of the meeting, he was allegedly beaten with slippers by one Subbiah for hoisting the national flag. Raju's wife was also attacked when she tried to intervene, police said.

A case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code and Section 31 (10) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, they said.

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