MADURAI: In a bizarre incident, a 35-year-old man from Melavalavu tried to tie a thaali to a Class 12 girl from the same village while travelling in a bus near Melur on Tuesday. Since the man belonged to Dalit community and the girl is a caste Hindu, tension prevailed in the village which is prone to communal issues.
Police said the girl, aged 17, had boarded the government bus in Melavalavu to travel to the government higher secondary school in Melur where she is studying. The accused R Kallanai, who works in a TASMAC outlet in the village, also boarded the bus. When the vehicle was near the Melur bus stand, Kallanai, who was standing close to the girl, took out a thaali and tried to forcibly tie it on her, much to the shock of passengers. While some said Kallanai tried to tie the thaali, others said he had the thaali ready with the traditional three knots tied and just put it around the girl‘s neck. Kallanai was overpowered and roughed up by passengers and the bus was taken to the Melur police station where he claimed he was in love with the girl. The police, however, said the girl had no knowledge of his intentions and had never seen or spoken to him. Based on the girl’s statement, the All Women Police booked Kallanai under Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act and remanded him in judicial custody. Security has been beefed up in the village to prevent any untoward incident.