A Dalit woman has approached the Madras High Court bench here for a direction to the authorities to declare a Dalit village as a vulnerable area.
The bench on Thursday directed the Nilakottai police in Dindigul district to submit a report on a public interest litigation filed by P. Palaniammal seeking a direction to the Dindigul police and the district administration to declare the Arunthathiar Colony in Nadupatti as an area prone to atrocities against Dalits.
The petitioner has claimed in her petition that the Arunthathiar Colony is a Dalit settlement in Nadupatti occupied by 500 Dalits. There were around 1,500 Caste Hindus living in Nadupatti, she claimed.
According to her, around 10 youth from the Dalit settlement were assaulted at the Arunthathiar Colony by Caste Hindus who took out a procession that passed through the colony during a temple festival in June.
Numerous stone pelting incidents and assaults on Dalits by Caste Hindus have been reported to the Nilakottai police, but no action has been taken, Mrs. Palaniammal contended.
Untouchability prevailed in Nadupatti, she alleged. In her petition, Mrs. Palaniammal claimed that the Dalits in Nadupatti were not permitted to use the public pathway, were denied employment under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, were socially ostracised and not permitted to avail benefits of the Public Distribution System.
Therefore, the petitioner pleaded with the court to direct the officials to visit Nadupatti, inspect the Dalit colony and submit a report to the court. She prayed that the police should be directed to set up an outpost in the village to control atrocities against Dalits.
A division bench comprising Justices M. Jaichandren and M. Venugopal sought a report on the alleged incidents of violence against Dalits in Nadupatti and adjourned the case by four weeks.
