Crime: Dalit was first beaten, apologized without any mistake and then urinated on him, case registered against 6 people

pc: Jansatta

Madurai Rural District Police has charged six persons under the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) Prevention of Atrocities (POA) Act for allegedly subjecting a 17-year-old Dalit boy to caste-based abuse, physically assaulting him And due to past enmity forced him to fall at his feet.

The victim also accused the culprits of urinating on him in front of the six-year-old child. The incident took place on January 16 and following a complaint lodged by the victim, a resident of Sangampatti village, the Usilampatti Town Police on Saturday booked six accused under sections 296(B), 351(2) BNS and various sections of the SC/ST POA Act. A case was registered under provisions that include criminal intimidation, obscenity and intentionally insulting a person belonging to the SC or ST community.

Neelam Cultural Centre, an NGO dedicated to protecting Dalit rights, strongly condemned the incident and shared information on the social media platform X.

The organization accused the police of delay in registering the case and said the accused had not been arrested till Sunday. On Saturday, the 17-year-old victim, along with VCK members and a lawyer, went to the office of the Usilampatti Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP). The boy also told about the incident in a video.

The victim said that during a festival in her village last month, some people harassed and threatened her because of her caste, and also made derogatory comments about her family. Due to fear he was living in Kerala. Recently he returned home for Pongal. Despite trying to remain silent, the accused forcibly took her to an isolated place in the village.

The victim said, “They beat me, shouted casteist abuses at me and forced me to fall at my feet, making me apologize even though I had done nothing wrong. They also urinated on me in front of a six-year-old boy. They threatened to kill me. I suffered serious injuries in the attack and had to be admitted to hospital.”

Madurai district Superintendent of Police (SP) BK Aravind on Sunday said investigation into the case was ongoing and the police had taken swift action. However, the police denied the allegations of urinating on the boy, insisting that such claims are false and being circulated.