Dalit youth attacked during temple festival

Coimbatore: A dalit was allegedly beaten up by a non-dalit during a temple festival in a village near Madukkarai in Coimbatore on Wednesday.

The dalit, Tamilalagan, 20, from Palathurai, said in his complaint that he was assaulted by a person belonging to Gounder community identified as Nandagopal, 45, only because he was a dalit.

But relatives of the accused told the police that he was beaten because he created a ruckus in a drunken state and that there was no caste angle to the attack.”We have registered a case against the accused under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. But we are yet to ascertain the motive behind the assault,” said a police officer investigating the case.

According to the police, the annual festival at Badrakaliamman temple is celebrated for three days. On Wednesday, the final day of the festival, Tamilalagan, along with his father Senthil Kumar, visited the temple.

When the two came to the spot where annadhanam was going on, an argument broke out between Tamilalagan and Nandagopal. As the argument heated up, Nandagopal allegedly assaulted Tamilalagan. Police said that there was prolonged enmity between the two families.

“Ten years ago, Senthil Kumar lodged a similar complaint against Nandagopal accusing him of practicing caste discrimination. Since then there was enmity between the two.

We are investigating whether Tamilalagan was assaulted because of enmity or because of his caste,” police said.

Police also ruled out discrimination of dalits during the temple festival.

Source: The Times of India