14-year-old Dalit boy was attacked by a 45-year-old man belonging to the dominant caste with a bamboo stick and was forced to clean faecal matter with his hands.
The incident took place on the Krishnamurthy hails from Kodarampatti village near Pennagaram in Dharmapuri. There is no toilet in his house. So at 5:00 AM this 14-year-old went to the farmlands to defecate. Rajasekar, a member of the dominant caste who came there, looked at the boy and said, “Son of a prostitute, you have the courage to defecate in my land “and started hitting him badly with a bamboo stick and insulted him with caste slurs. The boy started crying asking to stop beating him. But Rajasekar was not moved. He threatened to kill the boy if he did not clean the faecal matter with his own hands. The boy carried the faeces in his hands for around 50 metres and discarded it.
The boy was traumatised after the incident. A case has been registered at the Ponnagaram Police Station under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015. The accused Rajasekar has been arrested and remanded.
Later, the boy’s father has been falsely accused by Rajasekar and a counter FIR has been registered against him. After various human rights organizations called for action against the police on the false case booked by them the State Human Rights Commission issued a notice to the police seeking clarification.
