VISITING a poor villager in the remote Tamil Nadu village of India, a group of Singapore volunteers witnessed the ugly side of India's caste system first-hand.

The man - a Dalit or untouchable, from the lowest class in the caste system - had been beaten up because he had allowed his shadow to fall on someone of a higher caste.

'We were stunned to find out that they were so despised,' said Mr Michael Seah, a physical education teacher at Raffles Junior College who led a group of students on the trip in December last year.

The Dalits are not allowed to own land, but live on property owned by landlords, for whom they do farming.

The RJC group tried to make their lives better.

They refurbished a house, built a study area, and conducted basic English lessons for many Dalit girls who were not taught English as they have the lowest status even among the Dalit people.

'We also met the first Dalit woman to have attained a degree, but not before she was doused with kerosene in an attempt to burn her alive, all for her bravery to escape this existence,' said Mr Seah.

The team has produced a 15-minute documentary about attempts by organisations to improve plight of the people.

TAN WEIZHEN

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Aug 30, 2008.