ERODE: Tamil Nadu Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Chairman PR Sivakumar on Saturday conducted an inquiry with Dalit youth who were assaulted by dominant caste people near Gobichettipalayam in Erode district. The youth are undergoing treatment at the government hospital in Erode.
According to police, on November 21, two Dalit youth of Indran Nagar were beaten up by members of the dominant caste in Vengamedu village for allegedly stealing hens. The two youth and 20 members of the dominant caste were booked in the case. Dalit organizations, however, allege that the youth were assaulted because they consumed liquor.
Tamil Nadu Commission for SC/ST chairman along with district collector Raja Gopal Sunkara, superintendent of police G Jawahar and other officials had visited the two youth in the hospital. No further details about the investigation have been disclosed.
Following this, a peace committee meeting was again held in Gobichettipalayam on Saturday on behalf of the district administration.MLAs KA Sengottaiyan (Gobichettipalayam), AG Venkatachalam (Anthiyur), A Bannari (Bhavanisagar) and officials including RDO G Divya Priyadharshini, District Superintendent of Police G Jawahar, and DSP V Thangavel were present.
“In this, both the parties were advised to cooperate with the action taken by the government in this matter. However, both sides had arguments with officials and MLAs. Dalit outfits demanded the arrest of the attackers. They had urged officials to cancel the case against the attackers. So the meeting was then concluded halfway without reaching any conclusions,” sources said.