COIMBATORE: Four persons were booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Madukkarai police after they allegedly assaulted five members of a tribal community near Marapalam, Madukkari on Saturday morning.
Police said two of the assault victims - R Mathivanan (23) and his brother, R Boopathy (18), had entered a Caste-Hindu neighbourhood on a bike, when they fell off their vehicle due to speeding. The four accused, identified as V Selvaraj (31), M Balakrishnan (38), C Thirumoorthy (26) and V Karthik (26) began quarreling with the siblings following the mishap.
Although the cops said the two parties subsequently compromised and dispersed, the siblings have claimed they were assaulted during the altercation.
Following this incident, the quartet allegedly assaulted another tribal man, identified as K Subash Chandra Bose. When the victim’s parents - P Kulanthaivelu (50) and K Pushpa (42) questioned their actions, the middle-aged couple were also allegedly beaten with sticks by the accused.
Based on a complaint by Kulanthaivelu, the four Caste-Hindus were booked for voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons, criminal intimidation and under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act).
Police said one of the accused registered a counter complaint against four members of the tribal community. As a result, Mathivanan, Boopathy, P Karthik and S Raja were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. No arrests have been made thus far.