TN Dalit woman alleges her family was assaulted by Vanniyars, cops refused to act

Radhika who is 30 years old, has alleged that the attackers threw faeces at her family members while they were eating.

Even while the atrocity of mixing human excreta into a water tank belonging to a Dalit colony in Vengavayal in Pudukottai district is being investigated, yet another shocking caste crime has been reported in Tamil Nadu. On April 28, in Salem district, a group of Vanniyars allegedly barged into the home of Radhika, a Dalit woman, and physically assaulted and sexually harassed her. Radhika who is 30 years old, has also alleged that the attackers threw faeces at her family members while they were eating. The attack comes in the wake of repeated attempts to evict Radhika and her family from the poramboke (common land) on which they are currently living.

In her petition to the district Collector, Radhika further says that she attempted to lodge a complaint at the Sankari police station after the April 24 attack. However, the police did not register her complaint, she alleges.  Radhika has now urged the district administration to take action against the perpetrators and book them under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. She has also demanded that the administration provide her with the ownership documents for her house and land. Speaking to the media on May 5, Radhika said that the collector has instructed the police to take action against the perpetrators.

A fight to evict

On May 5, Friday, Radhika, who is from Sankari town in Salem district, filed a petition to district Collector S Karmegam and Salem Superintendent of Police (SP) requesting them to take action against the Vanniyar perpetrators. Vanniyars are a dominant caste in Tamil Nadu, categorised as Most Backward Class (MBC). Radhika belongs to the Paraiyar community who are listed under the Scheduled Caste category.

Radhika and her husband Kamal Hasan are residents of Podarangadu of Devannagoundanur village in Sankari block. In the petition to the Collector, Radhika mentions that she and her family have been living on the poramboke land for over five decades and that they have been paying property taxes on the land for 47 years. “Pachiyammal and her two sons Rajarathinam, and Anandaraj, who belong to the Vanniyar community, on multiple occasions, tried to evict my family from the locality just because we belong to the Dalit community” she alleges in the petition. Pachiyammal lives close to Podarangadu in Mattampatti.

The issue escalated after members of Pachiyammal’s family cut down a tamarind tree that stood on Radhika’s land, on March 15.  According to her petition, Radhika had at the time submitted a complaint to the Village Administrative Officer (VAO) and tahsildar but they had failed to take any action. Later, on April 24, Pachiyammal’s family engaged in a scuffle with Radhika and cut down more than 20 plantain trees belonging to her.

When TNM reached out to Sankari police station, they said police personnel have been sent to investigate the matter. “Based on the outcome of the inquiry, we will take further action,” Sankari police said.

Courtesy : TNM

Note: This news piece was originally published in thenewsminute.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights