Dalit outfits, including Viduthalai Chiruthaigali Katchi, staged a demonstration near Salem Government Medical College Hospital here on Tuesday refusing to accept the body of Mangammal, a Dalit girl from Natham colony at Naikkankottai in Dharmapuri district, who died on Monday night.
Natham was one of the three colonies that were attacked by a mob on November 7, following the suicide of a caste Hindu who was upset over his daughter marrying a Dalit youth from the colony.
Mangammal was among the Dalits who were on a fast last week to demand action against the perpetrators of the violence and a higher compensation. She was removed to the hospital after she fell sick. Since her admission to the hospital, her family and other residents claimed that she had been traumatised by the violence and her health had deteriorated since then. A senior doctor who attended on her, however, told The Hindu that the girl could have died of viral infection.
Demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the mob fury and a compensation of Rs.10 lakh for each affected family, besides government jobs for the family members of Mangammal (20), the members of the outfits along with the relatives of the girl staged a demonstration here on Tuesday and asked the girl’s relatives not to sign documents for post-mortem.
Senior police and revenue officials were engaging them in talks. Police also stepped up security in and around the hospital.
Staff Reporter adds from Dharmapuri:
P. Palanisamy, a former naxalite who was heading the fast, said over 30 Dalits and the family members of the girl were at the hospital, but they would not receive the body until the government ordered a CBI inquiry into the violence and arrested the main persons behind it. They were also seeking action against Pattali Makkal Katchi founder leader S. Ramadoss and the party’s senior leader J. Guru, for making anti-Dalit remarks. Meanwhile, due to their persistent demand, the Krishnapuram police registered a case under section 174 Cr.Pc (suspicious death) on Monday night.
