until he went away or climbed up a tree. If a Nair meets a Pulayar on the highway by accident, he cuts him down like a others cut an unpleasant animal. The Nair's right to kill any Pulayar imminently he met on the pathway is confirmed by almost all visitors to Kerala. Even the other lower castes had no communication with the Pulayar. According to Buchanan, the Nairs killed not only the Pulayars but any member of the other lower polluting castes, including the Ezhavas. Pollution rules were also observed in touching and sexual intercourse with the lower castes. Casting out the person from the caste was the punishment for disobeying the caste rules regarding pollution and in some cases sold into slavery and even death. If a Nambudhiri Brahmin woman is accused of illegitimate sexual relations, she is kept in a separate hut as her presence could pollute other members of her family before being interrogated by a caste court, the system is known as smarttivicaram. Pollution by approaching a Muslim, Christian, or a Jew is not observed but their touch is considered polluting. The custom for removing pollution is a bath by complete immersion in water. The Nambudiris had varying rules regarding the degrees of ritual pollution while interacting with people of different castes. In return, most castes practiced the principles of untouchability in their relationship with the other regional castes. Untouchability in Kerala is not restricted to Hindus, and George Mathew says that, "Technically, the Christians were outside the caste hierarchy, but in practice, a system of inclusion and exclusion was developed ...". Among Christians, the established Saint Thomas Syrian Christians also practiced the rules of untouchability. In the colonial period, many lower castes were converted to Christians by the European Missionaries but the new converts were not allowed to join the Syrian Christian community and they continued to be considered as untouchables even by the Syrian Christians. Syrian Christians derive status within the caste system from the tradition that they were elites, who were evangelized by Thomas the Apostle. Anand Amaladass says that "The Syrian Christians had inserted themselves within the Indian caste society for centuries and were regarded by the Hindus as a caste occupying a high place within their caste hierarchy." Syrian Christians followed the same rules of caste and pollution as that of Hindus and they were considered as pollution neutralizers. Rajendra Prasad,