VILLUPURAM: A recent murder and the mention of the residential address of the alleged assaulters in the state assembly have made life difficult for over 6,000 scheduled caste families living on GRP Street. They are left to deal with an indelible stigma that their area produces murderers and rowdies after Chief Minister M K Stalin made a statement in the assembly on March 30 that the two young men who murdered a shop worker in Villupuram were indeed living on GRP Street, residents have told TNIE.
Outsiders had no idea how the statement in the Assembly would impact the lives of over 10,000 Scheduled Caste residents of GRP Street.Moreover, both the alleged accused are not residents of GRP Street. The actual permanent address of G Vallarasu and G Rajasekar, the accused, is in Nayakan Thoppu and they currently live near Anna Nagar, which is about one and five km away from GRP Street respectively, as per the Aadhaar Card details verified by TNIE.
As it is, we are being stigmatised and labelled as criminals and the assembly statement will only add to it. “No banks provide loans to people from the area and in the wake of the murder, they will continue to refuse us for the next 100 years. Imagine if the incident had taken place in an area where caste Hindus or other upper caste people live. Would the area name have found a mention in the assembly," said A Gunanidhi (35), from Nandhanar Street in GRP Street area.
In 2020, TNIE reported that the youth from GRP Street were being forced to use fake addresses to secure jobs because most of the employers thought youth from the area were criminals regardless of their educational qualifications.
Unknown to most people, GRP Street has produced many doctors, teachers, lawyers and over 200 government officials, as per official sources. And, then there are the Mallakhamb players, who have bagged several national honours while representing Tamil Nadu.
"We went against the best teams from all over the country and came on top. We made Tamil Nadu proud, but it never made it to the headlines and no leaders were proud of our achievements. The players from all over town train right here in GRP Street," said G Adhityan, a Mallakhamb expert and trainer.
When asked about the wrong address of the accused mentioned, DSP S Parthiban told TNIE, "The address was added in the FIR as per the complaint filed by the victim's family. It will be altered after investigation and the right address will be mentioned in the chargesheet."
Ward councillor of GRP Street M Navamani said, “The hamlets and tiled-roofed houses in the ward need to be shifted to a residential complex or a housing board. We are working towards rebuilding infrastructure and focusing on education and employment. This is the only way forward as we try to bypass the stigma.