Residents staged a protest in Chinnamanur, Theni district, on Sunday. 21 December 2025, accusing a church priest of practising caste-based discrimination and demanding his removal.
The protest took place at the Annai Velankanni Church in the Ponnagar area, where Christians from multiple communities are registered members. The church is currently headed by Eddy Francis Dharmanand.
According to local residents, with Christmas celebrations scheduled for December 25, members of the Scheduled Caste Christian community went to the church to carry out decoration work. They alleged that the priest stopped them and spoke to them in a derogatory and discriminatory manner, amounting to caste-based abuse.
Following the incident, residents locked the church premises and launched a protest, demanding that the priest be transferred. Protesters alleged that while nearly 15 parish priests had previously served at the church without controversy, Eddy Francis Dharmanand alone had repeatedly spoken to Scheduled Caste Christians in a demeaning manner.
The protesters further claimed that for the past two years, the priest had barred Scheduled Caste Christian members from participating in activities of the Catholic Mahasabha and systematically excluded them from church-related responsibilities.
Police officials reached the spot to monitor the situation. No official response from the church authorities was available at the time of publication.
Source: Puthiya Thalaimurai
Subscribe to our channels on WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and YouTube to get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.