A five-member fact-finding team of the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), which visited the villages near Marakkanam following the violence on April 25, has established that the attacks on the Dalit households were “preplanned” and were executed by those who came to attend the Vanniyar sangam meeting at Mahabalipuram.
Speaking to Express on Saturday, Professor Saraswathi, president of the PUCL (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), said the violence in the village of Kattayam on April 25 bore many similarities to the incidents that took place in Dharmapuri last year.
The properties of the Dalits were systematically targeted. Eight houses were burnt down and one cow was killed, even as the mob hurled abuses on the Dalit inhabitants.
She said that the colony itself was not easily identifiable given that it was located behind thick bushes. The mob of about 300 men, who were wearing yellow T-shirts that was supplied by the PMK and Vanniyar Sangam for the Mahabalipuram meet, descended on the village and ransacked it with precision.
“They were clearly guided by the local Vanniyars,” she said and added that the Vanniyar houses in the area remained untouched. Dismissing the allegations of PMK leaders, who had claimed that the Dalits themselves had burnt their houses for seeking the relief fund, Saraswathi said the claim was unbelievable given that only eight houses were burnt.