MADURAI: In the wake of the suicide of a 16-year-old boy from the scheduled caste (SC) community in Pudukkottai district, executive director of the NGO Evidence, Kathir, said on Monday that the state government must declare the district as one prone to caste atrocities.
Addressing media persons in Madurai, Kathir said the assault on the SC boy for speaking to a girl from the caste Hindu community highlights untouchability.
“These incidents in school raise concerns on whether there is an increase in such attitude among children. The district police altered the suicide case to SC/ST Act (Prevention of Atrocities) and 306 IPC, but none of the minor suspects were arrested. The state government needs to declare Pudukkottai, Madurai, Tirunelveli, and Thoothukudi as districts prone to caste atrocities. A special wing must also be constituted to monitor caste issues in these districts”, he said.
The formation of the Justice Chandru committee, Kathir said, to eradicate caste-based differences among students in schools and colleges, also did not have an impact. Kathir said the state government failed to prevent such atrocities. “Caste-based atrocities have been on a rise in Tamil Nadu, especially in the last two years, with the number of such cases increasing from 1,200 to 1,400 a year, to 2,000 cases a year,” Kathir said.
He added that when the DMK was in opposition, it said that it would bring a law criminalising honour killings, but when Evidence submitted a draft, the DMK government did not take any steps. Appreciating the state government for constituting vigilance and monitoring committees on state and the district levels, Kathir noted that the number of members in these committees had witnessed an increase.
However, he added that the district level committees are more prone to closing SC/ST cases as ‘mistakes of fact’. Also explaining the reason for calling CM MK Stalin to visit Vengaivayal, Kathir said it is because he is the chairperson of the state vigilance and monitoring committee. “When J Jayalaithaa was chief minister, she once visited the spot and handed over compensation,” he said.