THOOTHUKUDI: Tension gripped Manakarai village near Vallanadu as three Dalits were attacked and their properties were destroyed by Caste Hindus in a communal strife here on Wednesday.
The three Dalits were identified as Sudalai Kumar (25), son of Muniyasamy, Murugan(47), son of Kandan, and Nataraj (67), son of Parvathy. Following the attacks they were admitted at Tirunelveli GH, police said.
Sudalai Kumar suffered major injuries on his neck and his palm was sliced into two when he tried to block attacks with sickles by Caste Hindus. However, doctors declared he was out of danger, police said. Fifteen houses and seven bikes belonging to Dalits were also destroyed by Caste Hindus.
Police said that the clash had begun on a trivial reason on Tuesday, as a caste Hindu youth, Babu, who was under the influence of alcohol, had gone to a water pump in Manakarai, where Dalit youths were taking bath, and asked water to make a drink. But the Dalit youth allegedly refused water. Sources added that Babu along with his friends, Pechimuthu, Ramesh and another Pechimiuthu, went to a colony of Dalits in Manakarai, and allegedly threatened the Dalit youth who had refused water to Babu. Following this, a complaint was launched by Dalit youths at the Morappanad Station and cops warned the Caste Hindu.
But the trio informed other caste Hindus the incident in Manakarai, as a result, around 20 Caste Hindu men attacked the Dalit colony of Thekoor and three Dalits sustained injuries. A senior police officer said that steps were taken to file cases against Caste Hindus who would soon be arrested.
Dalit Dharna
In the meantime, Dalits from Thekoor and Vadakoor staged a ‘dharna’ here demanding immediate arrest of the Caste Hindus who had attacked them and their properties.