புதுக்கோட்டை வேங்கைவயல் கிராம பட்டியலின மக்கள் பயன்படுத்தி வந்த குடிநீர் தொட்டியில் மலம் கலக்கப்பட்ட சம்பவம் மாநிலத்தை உலுக்கியது. இந்த சம்பவத்தில் கைது நடவடிக்கைகள் எடுக்கப்படாததை கண்டித்து பல்வேறு அமைப்பினர் தொடர்ந்து அரசுக்கு கண்டனம் தெரிவித்து போராட்டம் நடந்து வருகின்றனர்.
சமூக வலைத்தளங்களில் கண்டனங்களை பதிவு செய்து வருகின்றனர். இந்த நிலையில், இக்கொடூர சம்பவத்தை அரங்கேற்றியவர்களை கைது செய்யாமல் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட பட்டியலின மக்கள் மீது போலீசார் குற்றம் சுமத்துவதாக பரபரப்பான குற்றசாட்டுகள் எழுந்துள்ளன.
இந்த நிலையில், இச்சம்பவத்தில் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட தலித் மக்களுக்கு காவல்துறை தொல்லை கொடுத்து வருவதாக எவிடென்ஸ் அமைப்பு தலைவர் எவிடென்ஸ் கதிர் பரபரப்பாக பதிவு செய்து வருகிறார்.
எவிடென்ஸ் கதிர் தனது முகநூல் பதிவில், இந்த் வழக்கில் மொத்தம் 8 பேரினை தலித் தரப்பில் விசாரணை என்கிற பெயரில் காவல் நிலையத்திற்கு அழைத்து வந்து இரவு 12 வரை 3 நாட்கள் விசாரித்து உள்ளனர். இதில் 15 வயது சிறுவனும் விசாரிக்கப்பட்டு இருக்கிறான். இந்தியாவில் வன்கொடுமை வழக்கில் பாதிக்கப்பட்டவர்களை குற்றவாளிகளாக சித்தரிக்க செய்து விசாரணை செய்வது இதுவே முதல் தடவை.
விசாரணையில் மலத்தை வரைந்து காட்டுங்கள் என்று கூறி இருக்கின்றனர். அது மட்டும் அல்ல, நீங்களே மலத்தை கொட்டிவிட்டு அடுத்தவர்கள் மேல் பழி போடுகிறீர்களா என்று என்று கேட்டு கொடுமை செய்து உள்ளனர். ஆபாசமாகவும் பேசி இருக்கின்றனர். வீடியோவை ஆன் செய்துவிட்டு பதிவு செய்யும்போது சிரித்து கொண்டும் வீடியோவை ஆப் செய்துவிட்டு மிரட்டியும் போலீசார் நடந்து கொண்டனர். பாதிக்கப்பட்ட அனைத்து தலித்துகளிடமும் வாக்குமூலம் பெற்று இருக்கிறோம். வேங்கைவயல் வன்கொடுமைக்கு எதிராக நீதி கிடைக்கவில்லை என்றால் ஆளுநர் எப்படி சட்ட மன்றத்திலிருந்து விரட்டி அடிக்கப்பட்டாரோ அதுபோன்று எங்கள் சேரியிலிருந்து கழகங்கள் விரட்டி அடிக்கப்படும் என ஆவேசமாக பதிவிட்டுள்ளார்.
இதற்கிடையே முதல்வர் ஸ்டாலின் இதுகுறித்து சட்டப்பேரவையில் கவன ஈர்ப்பு அறிவிப்பை வாசித்தார்.
அதில் அவர் கூறியபோது, அந்த கிராமத்திலுள்ள 32 வீடுகளுக்கும் 2 லட்ச ரூபாய் செலவில் முற்றிலும் புதிய இணைப்புக் குழாய்கள் மற்றும் குடிநீர்க் குழாய்கள் அமைக்கப்பட்டு, 5-1-2023 முதல் சீரான குடிநீர் விநியோகம் நடைபெற்று வருகிறது. அதோடு, அங்கு ஒரு புதிய மேல்நிலை நீர்த்தேக்கத் தொட்டி 7 லட்சம் ரூபாய் செலவில் அமைத்திடவும் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்பட்டு வருகிறது. இந்த சம்பவம் தொடர்பான புகாரின் அடிப்படையில், வழக்குப் பதிவு செய்யப்பட்டு, புதுக்கோட்டை மாவட்டக் காவல் கண்காணிப்பாளர் அவர்கள் மேற்பார்வையில் ஒரு சிறப்புப் புலனாய்வுக் குழு அமைக்கப்பட்டு விசாரணை மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டு வருகிறது.
இதுவரை 70 நபர்களிடம் விசாரணை மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டுள்ளது. இச்சம்பவத்தில் ஈடுபட்ட உண்மைக் குற்றவாளிகளைக் கைது செய்ய உரிய நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும் என முதல்வர் கூறினார்.
In a fresh case of attack against the Dalits, three women including two belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) community were assaulted by two young men in Arantangi taluk in Pudukottai district. The incident came to light on Wednesday.
It is said that when the women – all working as daily wage earners, were having bath in a public waterbody near their dwelling, the two men came there and allegedly chased them away.
Based on a complaint from one of the victims, Sridevi, wife of Vadiveeshwaran of Kootangudi village, the Nagudi police have registered a case under IPC Sections 294 (b), 323, 354 and 506 (1), SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Amendment Act of 2015 3 (1) (r), 3 (1) s, 3 (2) (va).
The women alleged that the two accused shouted at them for taking bath in the tank. “How can we eat the fish caught here, in which you (women) have bathed…” The women also claimed that the two accused threw their sarees into the bushes and chased them and also threatened to kill them.
A team from the Madurai based NGO – Evidence left for the village and inspected the tank and the hamlet.
In a fact-finding report released to the media persons here on Wednesday, Evidence executive director A. Kathir said that the incident had occurred on January 1 at around 3 p.m. After informing the village elders, the woman had lodged a complaint on January 3 based on which the police had registered a case.
However, the accused, whose names were given as R. Ayyappan, and P. Muthuraman, of Manjakarai South were not yet arrested, Mr Kathir said.
The Pudukottai District Collector had directed the Aranthangi Tahsildar to conduct an inquiry. Similarly, the Pudukottai SP had directed the Arantangi DSP to probe based on the petition given by the three women. However, Mr. Kathir said that as per the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Amendment Act, the District Collector and the SP should have visited the scene of crime and conducted a probe.
Meanwhile, some people from the hamlet had lodged another complaint with the Collector and SP stating that there was no water in the tank and that the complaint given by Sridevi and two other Dalit women was false and baseless.
However, denying it, Sridevi’s husband had submitted a video taken by him which showed water in the tank. In a bid to evade arrest, the accused had drained the water by pumping it out, Mr Kathir said.
The three women had sent petitions to the Director General of Police, Chief Secretary, Adi-Dravidar Welfare Secretary, State Human Rights Commission, TN Women’s Commission, National SC/ST Women Commission and among others seeking intervention and arrest of the two accused as per the laws.
It may be remembered that Dalits of Vengaivasal in Pudukottai had complained that some miscreants had mixed faecal matter in a public overhead tank that served their village, on December 24, 2022.
A water tank was constructed in Vengavayal for storage purposes eight years ago in 2014. However, it was only after the water scarcity in the summer of 2022 that Dalits were permitted by the dominant castes to take water from the new tank.
After five Dalit children of Vengavayal village in Tamil Nadu’s Pudukkottai district fell ill and were hospitalised on December 24, the villagers inspected their common water tank. To their great shock, they discovered that the drinking water source of the Dalit families had been contaminated with human excreta. It was the doctors who treated the children who alerted the villagers to a possible contamination of the water. The tank was cleaned with bleach on December 26, and pipe connections to the houses were replaced two weeks later.
Kanakaraj, the father of a six-year-old girl who was among those hospitalised, filed a complaint with the Vellanur police after the villagers found out about the contaminated water tank. His daughter was initially admitted to the Primary Health Center (PHC) in Cauvery Nagar, from where she was referred to the Pudukkottai Government Hospital for further treatment. He was in Madurai when his daughter was admitted to the hospital, where her temperature shot up, causing family members to panic. “I’m a folklore artist and I was in Madurai for a performance. I left Madurai after my wife told me that our daughter was hospitalised,” he said. Based on Kanakaraj’s complaint, the police booked unknown persons under sections 277 (fouling water of public spring or reservoir) and 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc.) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and sections of 3(1)(b) (dumping obnoxious substances in the premises of SC/ST persons), 3(1)(x) (intentional insult or intimidation with intent to humiliate), and 3(2)(va) (offences mentioned in the Act’s Schedule, punishable in accordance with the IPC) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST Act).
A water tank was constructed in Vengavayal for storage purposes eight years ago in 2014. However, it was only in May 2022, after the water scarcity in the summer, that Dalits were permitted by the dominant castes to take water from the new tank. Until then, they were dependent on the tank inside the residential area of the dominant caste Mutharaiyars. When asked about any prevalent caste discrimination against the 35 Dalit families in the village, Kanakaraj said, “We were not allowed to enter the Ayyanar temple in Eraiyur for generations, until the last week of December 2022. Our grandfathers beat the parai (a percussion instrument) at the funerals of dominant castes. From my father’s generation on, we refused to beat it.” Describing the traumatic incident, he said, “There are rumours circulating that we did this to get attention. Even animals don’t eat their own faeces.” He further added, “When the water contamination came to light, we couldn’t point to any particular reason or incident that could have triggered this crime against us. Our interactions with dominant castes — Mutharaiyars and Agamudayars — in the village have been casual and without incident.”
Siva V Meyyanathan, Environmental Minister of Tamil Nadu, visited the village on December 29 and promised the people that the culprit would be arrested soon. The Minister had also ordered officials to construct a new water tank. An 11-member police team was formed after social activists marked their discontent over the investigation. Till January 10, the police have recorded the statements of 70 persons from the Vengavayal locality. No one has been arrested in the case so far.
Eleven days after the Minister’s visit, no progress is visible. The villagers expressed their disappointment in the government. “If this had happened to the dominant castes, the police would have promptly found the culprits. The slow progress on the part of the government raises several questions. The government has failed us,” Kanakaraj said. According to Kanakaraj, the 10,000-litre tank was cleaned on December 26 with bleaching powder, but the pipes were changed only between January 5-8. “They thought the bleaching process would kill the germs in the tank and hoses. But whenever I even brought a cup of tea to my mouth, all I could think of was the contaminated water tank and the water we drank. What is the government going to do about this?” he asked.
Kathir, the founder-director of Evidence, a Madurai-based organisation fighting for Dalit and tribal rights, said, “the administration should’ve at least set up medical camps and psychotherapy counselling till people felt better and came out of the trauma. But they failed the people in every sense.” He urged the government to take severe action against the culprits and demanded compensation. Kathir demanded that the government register a case under 3(1)(a) (forcing to eat or drink inedible or obnoxious substances) of the SC/ST Act, instead of 3(1)(b). Cases under Section 3(1)(b) pertain to acts with intent to cause injury, insult, or annoyance to SC/ST persons by dumping excreta, waste matter, carcasses, or any other obnoxious substance in their premises or neighbourhood. “But the Vengavayal incident is different in that people consumed contaminated water, so the case should be registered under 3(1)(a) and the government should compensate the community members,” he said. “The police usually register such cases under 3(1)(a), which entitles victims to Rs 1.2 lakhs in compensation. But Vellanur police registered the case under 3(1)(b), which awards compensation only to the complainant and refuses to see the larger picture in a crime that affected the entire community,” Kathir further added.
Dalit rights activists also expressed disappointment in the government’s move to deviate attention from the issue. Kathir’s social media posts highlight how the focus was deliberately shifted from the Vengavayal crime to another in Eraiyur when Pudukkottai district collector Kavitha Ramu and superintendent of police (SP) Vandita Pandey inspected the two villages on December 27. In Eraiyur, which is a mere 200m from Vengavayal, Dalits were restricted from entering an Ayyanar temple. Not only did the collector and SP facilitate Dalits’s entry to the temple, they also ensured the arrests of Singammal, a Mutharaiyar man, under the SC/ST Act. The police also arrested Mukkaiah, a local tea shop owner belonging to the Agamudayar caste who practised a double tumbler system by serving Dalits in separate tumblers. The Vengavayal issue, on the other hand, was given no importance.
What happened in Vengavayal is not an isolated event in Tamil Nadu. In 2002, two Dalits Murugesan and Ramasamy were forced to eat human excreta in Thinniyam village of Trichy district. Faeces-mixed water was poured on Muthumari, a Dalit man, in Melaurappanur, Madurai, in 2003. In 2004, Sangan, a Dalit man, was made to drink urine. In 2019, Kollimallai from Thiruvanduthurai village of Thiruvarur district was force-fed human excreta and the perpetrators urinated on his body. “In the last 10 years, nearly 20 such incidents have been reported. But the conviction rate in such crimes is only 5-6% in Tamil Nadu. The government should compensate the victims from the SC/ST fund and appoint a grievance redressal committee headed by IAS officers in Vengavayal village to resolve the grievances,” Kathir demanded.
NGO working for dalit rights, has demanded that the government pay compensation to the dalits at Iraiyur village in district where children recently fell sick after faecal matter was found to have been mixed in the drinking water tank. Evidence executive director KATHIR said in a statement that it is disappointing that no accused has been arrested though three cases were registered under various sections, including under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The NGO which conducted a field visit in the village said many villagers still face health issues. “The state government must at least take steps to conduct medical camps and provide suitable treatment,” he added. It was found that dominant community members had encroached on poromboke lands near the dalit colony, he said while calling upon the authorities to immediately remove them. Tnn
The State government should immediately give monetary relief to the Dalits at Vengaivayal village in Pudukottai district where faeces was found in drinking water stored in an overhead tank, said A. Kathir, director, Madurai-based NGO Evidence, here on Saturday.
Speaking to The Hindu, he said a fact-finding team from Evidence visited the village on Friday
MADURAI: NGO Evidence’s executive director A Kathir on Saturday urged the state government to appoint a committee headed by an IAS officer to hear and solve the grievances of Vengaivayal village in Pudukottai district.Kathir along with his team, after inspecting the village on January 6, said it is a worrying fact that the police are yet to identify and arrest the persons who dumped human excreta inside the water tank that supplies water to the SC villagers.
“Three cases were registered following the incident. However, the most relevant section 3(1)(a) SC/ST Act, which penalises action with the intent to cause injury, insult or annoyance to members of SC/ST community by forcing them to consume any indelible or obnoxious substance, was not added to the pertinent case. The accused in the two other cases appealed for bail and the government counsel did not object to it in court. Hence, three senior counsel members have to be appointed to deal with the cases,” they added.
He further stated that initially, only children from Vengaivayal village suffered from health issues but nowadays adults have also started developing health issues, especially skin issues. “The health department does not provide proper treatment for the people. I urge the health department to make arrangements. The state government must give special attention to the villagers and their grievances. At least a Rs 25 crore fund from the unused Rs 1000 crore from adi dravidar welfare schemes has to be allocated for the village for its development. Two-acre agricultural land and Rs 1.2 lakh have to be provided for each family as compensation,” he added.
Kathir believes that though most Indians agree honour crimes shouldn’t take place, they also sympathise with the parents who commit these crimes. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
He still feels nervous when he talks about the first time he investigated an honour killing. A woman from the martial Naicker caste had eloped with a Dalit man. The villagers tracked them down and brought them back. “They tied her up with a chain in a public place like a dog,” says Kathir, 50, founder of the Tamil Nadu-based non-profit, Evidence, which has legally pursued around 250 honour killings since 2005.