TIRUNELVELI: Six men from a Most Backward Community were arrested by the Tirunelveli city police late on Tuesday for allegedly torturing two Dalit youths by disrobing them and urinating on them before snatching their cash and mobile phones on Monday night on Thamirabarani riverbed. The victims, S Manoj Kumar ( 21) and S Mariappan (19), are currently undergoing treatment at Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital.
While Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi district secretary MC Sekar and local functionary Murugan Kannan alleged that the police are attempting to portray the incident as a simple robbery, Tirunelveli City Police Commissioner C Mageswari rejected the allegations and said a fair investigation is on in the case.
Speaking to reporters at the hospital, the victims said they had gone to the river on Monday around 7.30 PM to take a bath when a group started attacking them. After learning that they were Dalits, the group intensified the attack, asked them to strip, and urinated on them, the victims said. The attackers also snatched silver jewellery and cell phones from the victims.
Torture lasted over five hours, victims lost Rs 5,000
As the muggers demanded money, one of the victims asked his employer to send Rs 5,000. The torture continued from 7.45 PM to 1 AM. After the money was credited, one of the accused went to a nearby ATM on the victim’s bike to withdraw money.
The victims later managed to escape and reached home at late night. Thatchanallur police filed cases against Ponmani, Nallamuthu, Aayiram, Ramar, Lakshmanan, and Siva from Tirunelveli and arrested them. They were booked under various sections of the IPC and SC/ST Act, 2015.