Tamil Nadu: 6 accused of assaulting Dalit teen and allegedly urinating on him in Madurai

Madurai: The Madurai rural district police have charged six individuals under the Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) Prevention of Atrocities (PoA) Act for allegedly subjecting a 17-year-old Dalit boy to caste-based abuse, physically assaulting him, and forcing him to fall at their feet due to previous animosity. The victim also accused the perpetrators of urinating on him in front of a six-year-old child.

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The incident occurred on January 16, and following a complaint filed by the victim, who hails from Sangampatti village, the Usilampatti Town police on Saturday registered a case against the six accused under sections 296(b), 351(2) BNS, and various provisions of the SC/ST PoA Act, including criminal intimidation, obscenity, and intentionally insulting or humiliating a person from the SC or ST community.

Neelam Cultural Centre, an NGO dedicated to safeguarding Dalit rights, strongly condemned the incident and shared the details on social media platform X.

The organization accused the police of delaying the registration of the case and noted that the accused had not been arrested as of Sunday. On Saturday, the 17-year-old victim, accompanied by members of the VCK and an advocate, visited the office of the Usilampatti Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP). The boy also recounted the incident in a video.

The victim shared that during a festival in their village last month, a group of individuals had harassed and threatened him because of his caste, also making derogatory comments about his family. Feeling scared, he had been staying in Kerala. He returned home recently for Pongal. Despite trying to stay low, the accused had forcibly taken him to a secluded spot in the village.

The victim recounted, "They beat me while hurling casteist slurs and forced me to fall at their feet, demanding that I beg for forgiveness despite having done nothing wrong. They also urinated on me in front of a six-year-old boy. They threatened to kill me. I sustained severe injuries from the attack and had to be hospitalized."

Madurai district Superintendent of Police (SP) BK Arvind stated on Sunday that the investigation into the case was ongoing and that the police had acted swiftly. However, the police refuted allegations that the boy had been urinated on, emphasizing that such claims were false and being circulated.