Tamil Nadu: Dalit ward member murdered for ‘staring’; three arrested

TNN | Aug 16, 2023, 12.37 PM IST

TIRUNELVELI: Villagers from Keelanatham Vadakkur in Tirunelveli district hoisted black flags in their village on Tuesday in protest against the murder of their ward member, a dalit, by two people from the dominant maravar community on Sunday afternoon. N Rajamani, 32, was grazing goats when the youths picked up a quarrel with him for ‘staring’ at them, according to his father M Narayanan who witnessed the murder.

Narayanan told Tirunelveli taluk police in his complaint that the accused duo, Mayandi alias Palla Mayandi and Esakkimuthu, from the village arrived on a motorcycle and asked Rajamani why he was staring at them. When Rajamani, member of ward 2 in Keelanatham village, denied he was doing so, they drew out sickles and started hacking him. As villagers rushed to Rajamani’s aid, the duo left the spot on their bike but not before warning them of the same fate “if scheduled caste people didn’t know their limits”, the complaint said. Rajamani succumbed to injuries at Tirunelveli medical college hospital later. He was running a grocery shop and was married to Arumugavadivu, an aeronautical engineering graduate.

With his relatives demanding justice and refusing to collect the body, Tirunelveli taluk police filed a murder case and invoked Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act sections and arrested Mayandi and R Esakkimuthu as well as their accomplice S Mayandi. Tirunelveli SP N Silambarasan said the three have been booked for murder and a DSP-level investigation is underway. The family members collected Rajamani’s body and performed his final rites on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Evidence, the dalit rights organization, which undertook a fact-finding study in the village, said the maravar community members murdered Rajamani, who hails from the dalit pallar community, to instil fear among the SC community. It said that some members of the maravar community were not happy about the empowerment of the SC community and and have been constantly harassing them. Youngsters from Keelanatham Vadakkur are keen to study and there are many graduates among them. More than 15 SC people are in government jobs and many own land while a few are contractors.

Evidence executive director A Kathir urged the government to set up a special wing to prevent caste murders in Tirunelveli district. He also demanded a government job for Rajamani’s widow.