Unni Vengeri, the incumbent president of Changaroth grama panchayat near Perambra in Kozhikode district, filed a complaint against the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Perambra, accusing Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) workers of humiliating his caste during a victory celebration held on December 13 after the local poll results were announced.
In a complaint filed on Tuesday (December 16), Mr Vengeri, who is from the Left Democratic Front (LDF), said that after the United Democratic Front (UDF) won power in the panchayat, five IUML workers and 25 others barged into the panchayat office. They hoisted Congress and IUML flags there and threw away some of the furniture kept in the office. The group later resorted to clean-up after spraying cow dung water on the premises while raising abusive slogans. Images of the incident later spread on social media.
Mr. Vengeri, who belongs to Scheduled Caste (SC), alleged that the IUML workers did this to humiliate him and other members of his community and express their displeasure over his position as panchayat president. He said though the UDF came to power in some other panchayats in Perambra, similar acts were not carried out in any of these places. Mr Vengeri also alleged that the video was circulated by a Facebook profile named Praveen Kumar Wayanad. During 2020-25, the post of panchayat president in Changaroth was reserved for the SC community. Mr. Vengeri is a regional committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Meanwhile, LDF activists protested against the episode in the evening. However, local IUML leaders denied the allegations and claimed that it was a “symbolic protest” to show that the “corrupt LDF has been wiped out of power”.
Published – 16 Dec 2025 21:24 IST
