COIMBATORE: The Special Court in Coimbatore for the exclusive trial of cases under the SC/ST (PoA) Act awarded eight life terms each to two accused who had tried to murder poultry farm workers in a village near Kinathukkadavu in 2017 after hurling caste slurs at them.
Police said, a private poultry farm at Kullichettipalayam had employed six Dalit families and four OBC families, and they were provided quarters near the farm. On November 3, 2017, OBC members played movie songs that had references to their caste. The Dalits too started playing songs about their community, fuelling tension. Subsequently, four Dalits were assaulted by OBC members, and they were admitted to hospitals.
The injured were identified as K Karuppu, M Kalimuthu, his brother M Sadayandi and R Sundarraj, all from Dindigul. Police arrested P Senthilkumar (34) and V Chinnadurai (43), both from Thoothukudi, in connection with the case. Senthilkumar and Chinnadurai were consuming alcohol near the quarters when Dalits played the song. Irked, the duo assaulted them with a sickle and an iron rod, police said. On Friday, the court awarded eight life terms and imposed a fine of `16,000 on each accused.