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Chennai: In yet another ‘shameful’ incident, two Dalit youths were assaulted, stripped, and urinated upon by six men belonging to Maravar, a dominant Backward Community, in Thachanallur in Tirunelveli district, where a teenager boy and his sister were hacked by their classmates over caste differences in August.
The six men -- B Ramar, S Nallamuthu, G Lakshmanakumar, R Ayiram, M Siva, and M Ponnumani – were arrested by the Tirunelveli City Police after the Dalit youth, S Manoj and S Mariappan, filed a complaint regarding the incident that happened on Monday evening.
The incident has created a furore with Opposition parties alleging that atrocities against Dalits have increased ever since the DMK came to power in 2021. In December 2022, faecal matter was found in an overhead tank at a colony in Pudukottai district, and the brother-sister duo were attacked in August this year.
Police said four men who were under the influence of ganja waylaid Manoj and Mariappan near Manimoortheswaram river where they had gone to take a bath. The men called two of their friends and began harassing the duo who were on a motorbike.
The complaint says the group of six men began insulting more and assaulting the Dalit youth after coming to know of their caste. “The gang then began beating up the youth and stripped them. The youth in their complaint said the gang also urinated on them after assaulting them with sticks,” a senior police officer said.
The gang also forced the duo to get Rs 5,000 for them through an online account transfer, besides threatening them of dire consequences if they spoke about the incident.
Police registered a case under various sections of the Prevention of Atrocities (SC/ST) Act against the six men. The two Dalit youth are recovering at a government hospital.
Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami demanded strict action against the culprits besides asking the government to take steps to ensure that such incidents don’t recur.