A family belonging to a Most Backward Community (MBC) in Thalinjikattu Pudur near Kangeyam in Tiruppur district was allegedly ostracised and attacked by the dominant community in the village since a person from the family married a girl from a Dalit community.
A Madurai-based non-governmental organisation, Evidence, which has brought out a fact-finding report on the incident, said the youth, N. Sivasankar, and the girl, Kasthuri, both graduates, fell in love and got married in last May. Sivasankar’s family was the only family belonging to their community in the village. Ever since the marriage, the dominant community in the village ostracised the family members by banning them from using certain public paths, drinking water sources and temple.
The report observed that one family from the dominant community alone was helping Sivasankar’s family. Meanwhile, on March 8, a gang belonging to the dominant community attacked Sivasankar, Kasthuri, who was eight months pregnant, and his father Natraj. Though a case was registered in this regard, the fact-finding report pointed out that provisions of Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was not invoked, despite one of the affected being a Dalit.
“The entire attack was because the girl was a Dalit. She was verbally abused with derogatory remarks about her caste by the attackers. But the police had intentionally not invoked the provisions of SC ST (PoA) Act because it must have made it difficult for the accused to get bail. Now, all the accused are out on bail,” said A. Kathir, Executive Director of Evidence.
Demanding that the FIR be altered to invoke provisions of the SC ST (PoA) Act, Mr. Kathir urged Tiruppur Collector and Superintendent of Police to visit the spot to conduct enquiries. He also demanded a compensation of ₹ 5 lakh for the affected family.
