DMK fact-finding committee points a finger at PMK

It says police reached spot 4 hours after attack on Dalits began

A dalit women looking for something in her ravaged hut in Anna Nagar in Naikkankottai in Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu after it was vandalised by caste Hindus. Photo: E. Lakshmi Narayanan

A fact-finding committee of the DMK has held functionaries of the PMK responsible for the recent attack on Dalit colonies near Naikkankottai in Dharmapuri district.

The committee headed by DMK organising secretary P.V. Kalyanasundaram came to this conclusion after visiting Natham Colony, Anna Nagar and Kondampatti, and interacting with the affected people.

In its report, the committee stated: “The attack was a planned one. Inter-caste love marriage was not the sole reason behind it. Rather, the attack was the result of a chain of events. The PMK functionaries are found to have instigated and carried out the attacks.”

The committee also found fault with the manner in which the police handled the complaint by the girl’s parents.

The police reached the spot four hours after the trouble broke out. “While the police is yet to arrest all the culprits behind the attack, they have booked a few innocents who are not connected with the incident,” the report said.

Holding that the compensation of Rs. 50,000 was insufficient, the report said even this meagre amount was yet to reach some of the victims.

The committee slammed the State Government for not taking sufficient steps to restore normality in the area or implementing relief measures effectively. So far, the district administration has not established a peace committee, the report said.