CHENNAI: Almost a month after a temple car procession triggered a community clash at Seshasamudram village in Villupuram district, a resident of the Dalit settlement approached the Madras High Court on Friday with a petition seeking direction to authorities to provide adequate police protection to conduct the car festival.
According to the writ petition moved by Arunachalam, a resident of Seshasamudram Village, the Dalit colony comprises 82 houses with 447 residents. As part of the local temple festival, the villagers had arranged a temple car procession on August 16 around 10 am on a public road running through the colony.
“To our surprise and dismay, around 6.30 pm on August 15, a group of caste Hindu people headed by Subramanian torched the temple car and set afire several houses. Eight houses were fully damaged in the fire and 40 more were partially damaged,” Arunachalam said, adding that 10 police personnel guarding the car were also attacked.
The attack, he alleged, was a calculated one on the Dalit community to intimidate them from worshiping at the village temple. Claiming that the compensation fixed by the government was not just and reasonable, the petitioner also alleged that their demand to rebuild their houses with concrete roof to avoid further damages from fire had not been fulfilled by the authorities.
The petitioner sought the court to direct the State government to provide adequate compensation, restore the rights of the Dalits as per the SC/ ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, besides according police protection to conduct temple car procession.
Admitting the petition, Justice MM Sundresh directed notice to the State government and posted the matter to September 14.
It may be recalled that after the riots, police came to the Seshasamudram and arrested 75 people, all Vanniyars, including women and juveniles in connection with the attack on Dalit the previous night. Most of the houses were empty, their doors kept opened. Since the police began arresting the women, no one except some elderly persons, a pregnant woman and some children, were in the village. Some had even escaped to other districts.