Dalits attacked during temple festival, nine injured

Coimbatore: A group of intermediate caste Hindusattacked dalits from a village near Thondamuthur here on Tuesday, causing injuries to six men. The dalits were targeted after they questioned the group who misbehaved with a dalit women during a temple festival procession.

Of the 500 families at Pullaigoundenpudur village, 40 are dalits. The village temple festival began on Sunday. The next day, a man belonging to an intermediate caste misbehaved with a dalit woman. “Following this, a youth from the dalit community confronted the man and an argument broke out between the two. Soon, elders from both sides intervened and settled the matter,” said Venmani P, 44, a relative of one of the victims.

However, to settle scores over the previous day’s argument, the intermediate caste men misbehaved with dalit women on Tuesday during the temple procession.

“The jewels meant to adorn the goddess’ idol had been kept in the house of one of the upper caste men and all the people of the village, including women, were carrying them to the temple in a procession,” said Venmani. “During the procession, some inebriated youths misbehaved with the dalit women,” said Venmani.

The dalits again questioned the behaviour of the youths. “We asked the intermediate caste youths if they would keep quiet if the dalits misbehaved with their women,” said Venmani. Enraged with the remarks of the dalits, a group of 40 men attacked them on Tuesday evening.

Of the nine men who were injured, three have been admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital. Among the three hospitalised is a senior citizen. “They damaged our houses, broke down our doors, damaged a couple of bikes and also attempted to set one of the houses on fire,” said Venmani.

The dalits immediately approached the Thondamuthur police and lodged a complaint against the attackers. “But they did not take any action. We submitted a petition to superintendent of police R V Ramya Bharathi and she has ordered the deputy superintendent of police of Perur to file an FIR and arrest the accused,” said the lawyer representing the dalits, Pannerselvam.

At Pullaigoundenpudur, the dalits do not have access to the Mahakaliamman temple and do not have the rights to carry out funerals in the burial ground in the village.

Source: The Times of India