TENKASI: The Principal District Court in Tenkasi sentenced three men belonging to the dominant castes to one year of imprisonment for verbally abusing two Schedule Caste (SC) residents. The convicts - K Saravanakumar, V Subramanian, and R Senthurpandi - used casteist slurs against the victims, Vivek Kumar and Kalidass, both from the SC community in Sangupuram village near Vasudevanallur, during the Kaliamman Temple’s Vaikasi Visakam festival in 2015.
According to the prosecution, the incident occurred when the two SC men offered prayers in front of the temple car as part of the ritual. The accused objected to their presence, hurled caste-based insults, and stated that individuals from their community had no right to stand before the chariot and worship the deity.
Based on the complaint of a ‘nattamai’ of scheduled caste community, the Vasudevanallur police booked the trio under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Additionally, the court imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on each of them. Special Public Prosecutor S Marikutty appeared for the victims.