Arun Kumar, the Dalit boy, who was paraded with footwear on his head through a Caste Hindu street in Vadugapatti, did not attend the school when it reopened on Monday
While social activists claimed that boy refused to go to school fearing that Caste Hindu students might ridicule him, district administration official said that his mother Nagammal had decided to send him to school only after 10 days.
Earlier on Sunday, the police arrested three persons, including the main accused Nilamaalai, for reportedly forcing the boy to walk with footwear on his head through the streets of Caste Hindus.
As assured, Usilampatti DSP Saravanakumar visited the hamlet and addressed the students of Kallar Government Higher Secondary School at Vadugapatti and asked them not to follow discrimination in the school.
However Nagammal told revenue officials that her son needed time to recover from the harassment shock. “I will send my son to school only after ten days,” she told M Durapandi, Revenue Divisional Officer, Usilampatti, who talked with the woman during his visit to village.
Contradicting the official version, an advocate C K R Theivammal, a functionary of Federation of Usilampatti Taluk Dalit Organisation, alleged that the boy was not interested to continue in the Kallar Government Higher Secondary School fearing that the Caste Hindu boys would humiliate him. So they have decided to seek admission for the boy in another taluk, she said. Theivammal claimed that when teachers of the school approached the boy at his house, he told them that he would not come to the school. She said that the brick kiln owner, a Caste Hindu, refused to give work to Nagammal after the incident.
When Express contacted Collector Anshul Mishra, he said that the administration would not allow any body to disturb the boy. “Attempt to shift the boy to another school is not a solution instead it will only create division among the local community,” he said. He added that the administration would arrange counselling for the boy to help him overcome the mental agony.