Dalit boy in Tamil Nadu attacked by students in another caste atrocity incident
Hari Prasad, a student of Government High School in Kalugumalai, was subjected to casteist harassment at school when he tried to defuse a fight between two students and was later attacked by a gang in his hometown.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2023 – 14:55
Written by TNM Staff
In another shocking incident, a Class 11 student from the Pallar community in Kalugumalai, Tuticorin was attacked by 10 students on Thursday, August 17. Pallar community is categorised as a Scheduled Caste (SC) in Tamil Nadu. According to reports, Hari Prasad, a student of Government High School in Kalugumalai, was subjected to casteist harassment at school when he tried to stop a fight between two other students in which his friend Hemanth was involved. When Hari Prasad tried to break the scuffle on August 17, one of the students cited his lowered caste and subjected him to verbal casteist harassment.
Later that day, a group of ten students travelled to Lakshmipuram and searched for Hari Prasad. Around 8 pm, when they spotted Hari Prasad alone at a temple, the gang attacked, castigated and threatened to kill him before they fled. The victim’s parents rushed him to the Primary Health Centre (PHC), where he was provided first aid. Later, he was admitted to the Government Hospital in Kovilpatti for treatment.
The Kalugumalai police have registered a case against the ten students. A few college-going students were also part of the ten students who attacked Hari Prasad. Kalugumalai police arrested 5 persons linked to the attack. Among them, 4 are from the Maravar community and one person is from the Pandaram community. Both communities are categorised as the Most Backward Class in Tamil Nadu.
Police booked them under sections 147 (rioting), 294(b) ( sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place), 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 3(1)(r) (intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in any place within public view), 3(1)(s) ( abuses any member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe by caste name in any place within public view), and 3(2)(va) (commits any offense specified in the Schedule, against a person or property, knowing that such person is a member of Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe or Such Property belongs to such member, shall be punishable with such punishment as specified under the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860)) for such offenses and shall also be liable to fine) sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act (SC/ST POA).
This incident surfaced a week after a caste crime was reported in Nanguneri, where the victim was a Dalit student studying in Class 12. Chinnadurai, a student in a government-aided school in Valliyur, Tirunelveli, was regularly subjected to caste-based harassment by students who belong to the Maravar community. Chinnadurai stopped going to school from the last week of July, as he did not want to be harassed. The bullying came to light when his teacher called his mother, Ambikapathi, to enquire about his absence. After the teacher warned the students who bullied him, they attacked Chinnadurai and his younger sister Chandraselvi with sickles at their residence.
Following the brutal attack on the Dalit teen siblings, Chief Minister MK Stalin on August 12 ordered the setting up of a one-man committee under retired High Court judge Justice K Chandru to recommend suggestions to prevent caste discrimination among school and college students in the state.
