At least six persons were arrested for allegedly assaulting, stripping and urinating on two Scheduled Caste youths, police said on Thursday. Several political parties denounced the atrocities on the SC youths and called for concrete measures to prevent such crimes in the future.
The six persons have been identified as M Ponmani, S Nallamuthu, R Ayiram, B Ramar, M Siva and Lakshmanan, police said. All in the age group of 21 to 25 years, they were said to be under the influence of alcohol when they accosted the youths and asked them to reveal their caste identity, police said.
When the two Dalit youths revealed their caste identity, the gang of six assaulted and stripped them and them urinated on them. The two youths were returning after a bath from Thamirabarani river when they were assaulted, Thachanallur police said.
The police have registered cases against the six accused under various sections of the IPC and also under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. According to the victims, who are currently undergoing treatment at the Tirunelveli Medical College hospital here, the gang robbed them of two mobile phones, silver jewellery and extorted Rs 5,000 from them.
"They appeared to be high on ganja (cannabis). They called us and asked about our caste and native place, when we were getting ready to ride our bike after a bath in the river on Monday. No sooner had we answered than they began attacking us with sticks and knives," the victims said.
One of the injured had to contact his office to have Rs 5,000 digitally transferred to the gang. Once the money was credited, the perpetrators took the victim's bike to withdraw money from a nearby ATM. "However, two of them fled upon seeing the police on patrol and we took advantage of the situation and escaped," the victims told reporters.
Condemning the 'heinous act', AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said the incident proved that caste-based atrocities have become rampant after the DMK came to power. "This is a shameful act. Instead of making it a case of robbery, the police should take stringent action on those involved. The government should provide appropriate compensation to the affected SC youth," Palaniswami said in a post on social media platform X.
Strongly condemning the attack on the SC youth, CPI state secretary R Mutharasan said such human rights violations are unacceptable in a civilised society. "It's regrettable that such incidents are on the rise in Tirunelveli district.
Concrete steps should be taken with political determination and social concern to prevent such incidents from happening in the future," he said in a release, and sought a probe and appropriate punishment for the culprits. Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S Ramadoss called for strict action on the culprits. TNCC legislature party leader K Selvaperunthagai, too, condemned the incident.
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