VILLUPURAM: In yet another incident that revealed the ugly head of casteism, the right arm and the right leg of a Dalit youth of Villupuram were severed after an affair with a Caste Hindu girl.
The incident came to light after the youth lodged a police complaint with the help of Express after about four months.
The victim’s mother Athima (45), a widow who has a daughter and three sons, told Express that in 2013, the second son G Senthil (28), a private mini-bus driver, fell in love with the Caste Hindu girl Malliga studying 10th standard, who travelled everyday on his bus to school and she accepted his proposal. The two carried on with their affair for two years.
In March, 2015, Malliga’s maternal uncle came to know of it and warned her. Also, he informed her parents, who also forced her to break up with Senthil.
When he asked about the sudden change in her behaviour, Malliga told him that she would never go against her parents’ will, saying that she and Senthil belong to different castes.
After a few months, some of Malliga’s relatives spotted Senthil trying to approach her and informed her uncle.
The man made Malliga lodge an eve-teasing complaint with the police against Senthil, who was subsequently remanded in jail. After, he came out on bail, he learnt that his bus owner had sacked him. Then, Senthil began working as a lorry driver.
One day after work, Senthil boarded a mini-bus to go home, when by coincidence he spotted Malliga on the bus. On seeing him, she thought he was stalking her again and told her parents, who lodged another police complaint. But, he was let off with a warning.
Around 8 pm on April 16, 2015 when Senthil was going to a petty shop near the Villupuram employment exchange, Malliga’s maternal uncle attacked him with an iron rod. Senthil fell down unconscious.
When he regained consciousness after a few hours, he found himself near the Mambalpattu road railway gate with his limbs chopped off. On seeing this, local residents took him to hospital.
After being discharged from the hospital a week ago, Senthil had been seeking help to lodged a police complaint.
After coming to know of the incident through sources on Thursday, Express helped Senthil submit a petition to Villupuram Superintendent of Police K S Narenthiran Nayar on Friday evening.
When Express contacted the SP, he said a special team has been formed to investigate and said all the accused would be nabbed at the earliest.