Denied a chair, Dalit women confront discrimination on Indian village councils
WHEN Priya Periyasamy was elected to lead her village council in southern India a year ago, her parents warned that she would face hostility as a low-caste Dalit woman, but nothing prepared her for the constant abuse she receives. Periyasamy is among at least 16 women village council leaders in Tamil Nadu state who have filed complaints in the last six months over discrimination for being Dalits - considered India's lowest caste in an ancient social hierarchy. "Since I was elected, other members of the council wouldn't even greet me," Periyasamy, 24, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from…