Krishnan, the grandfather of the injured, collapsed on the road during a protest. Doctors declared him brought dead at the hospital.
Armed with sickles, the gang hacked Chinnadurai, causing injury to his head, hand, and abdomen. Further, the gang attacked his 14-year-old sister too. (Supplied)
Expressing shock over an incident where a Class 12 Dalit boy was hacked by six of his caste Hindu classmates at Nanguneri in Tirunelveli district, Chief Minister MK Stalin said that it shows how much the poison of casteism has seeped into young students.
He requested the teaching community to inculcate social harmony in the minds of the students.
“Without recognising our fellow man as our equal, continuing the caste discrimination and expressing such hatred violently is intolerable,” Stalin said, stating that the law will take its own course in the case.
The chief minister also added that students should realise that we are all children of the same mother by the language we speak.
“No success can be achieved by those who have a hateful mind. Hatred will lead us nowhere and there should not be any feeling of discrimination. Younger society should realise that there should be no hatred and prejudice among us,” Stalin tweeted.
நாங்குநேரியில் நடந்த சம்பவம் நடுக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்துகிறது. இளம் மாணவர்களிடம் கூட சாதிய நச்சு எந்தளவுக்கு ஊடுருவி இருக்கிறது என்பதையே இது காட்டுகிறது. சக மனிதரை நமக்குச் சமமான ஒருவராக அடையாளம் காணாமல் சாதி வேறுபாடும் மாறுபாடும் பார்த்து வெறுப்பதும், அத்தகைய வெறுப்பை வன்முறையாக… https://t.co/IA7oclHIYT
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) August 11, 2023
On Wednesday, 9 August, around 10.30 pm, a gang of six juveniles — all under 16 years of age — barged into their classmate Chinnadurai’s house, located at Peruntheru, Naguneri.
Armed with sickles, the gang hacked Chinnadurai, causing injury to his head, shoulders, hands, and abdomen. The gang also hacked the boy’s 14-year-old sister Chandira Selvi, who came to her brother’s rescue.
As the two injured children raised an alarm, neighbours reached the house and the gang of boys fled from the scene. The neighbours informed the police and took the injured brother and sister to hospital.
Meanwhile, the relatives of the children held a road roko as the police delayed visiting the scene of the crime. During the protest, Krishnan, the grandfather of the injured, collapsed on the road. He was taken to hospital, where the doctors declared him brought dead due to a cardiac arrest.
The Nanguneri police arrested seven students and booked them under nine sections of the Indian Penal Code, including the SC/ST Atrocities Act and Juvenile Act. All seven students were sent to the government observation home.
Chinnadurai, a student belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community, studying in a government-aided school at Valliyur, was bullied by a group of caste Hindu boys. The gang had reportedly forced Chinnadurai to run errands for them. They had even asked him to buy them cigarettes every day with his own money, and also used to take whatever money he had.
When Chinnadurai refused to continue after a certain point, he was beaten up by the boys.
“Last week, Chinnadurai refused to go to school, saying that he was unwell. Since we are daily labourers, we let him take rest at home and went to work. We got a call from the headmaster of the school, asking us to send our son to class. When we insisted that he go to school, he refused and told us the ordeal he was facing every day at the hands of the caste Hindu boys,” Muniyandi, Chinnadurai’s father, told South First.
When the parents took him to school and explained the matter to the teachers, the caste Hindu boys were warned of severe action and were also told to bring their parents to the school.
Later, the group warned Chinnadurai of dire consequences for complaining about them. On the same night, he and his sister were attacked.
On hearing about the incident, School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh released a five-minute video expressing shock over the incident and said that he was deeply wounded by the actions of the students. He said that he would bear the medical and educational expenses of the two students who were brutally attacked. Further, he said that he would make the effort to admit the boy to another school.
Speaker Appavu, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, Congress MLA Ruby Manokar, on Saturday, visited the injured students in the hospital.
“Not as a minister. As a brother, I request the student community to be amicable to others without showing prejudice and any kind of discrimination. That is the way to grow,” Mahesh said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Stalin, on Saturday, called the parents of the injured over the phone and assured them of severe action against those who attacked the students and also offered all kinds of support to them.
Speaker Appavu, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, and Congress MLA Ruby Manokar were among those who visited the injured brother-sister duo in the hospital , on Saturday, 12 August.
AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, in a statement on Saturday, said that he prays for the speedy recovery of the injured students and also insisted that the DMK government take stringent action against those who were involved in the attack.
மாணவ சமுதாயத்தினரிடையே ஜாதிய சிந்தனையைத் தூண்டி, இளைய சமுதாயத்தின் எதிர்காலத்தோடு விளையாடும் திமுகவினருக்கும், தூண்டிவிடும் சமூகவிரோதிகளுக்கும் கடும் கண்டனம்!
– மாண்புமிகு கழகப் பொதுச் செயலாளர் திரு. @EPSTamilNadu அவர்கள். pic.twitter.com/9NZg3iyBvN
— AIADMK – Say No To Drugs & DMK (@AIADMKOfficial) August 12, 2023
He also alleged that caste conflicts have increased under the current DMK government, headed by Stalin. He urged the government to curb the supply and sale of intoxicating drugs in the state.
VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan requested the chief minister to initiate severe action against the perpetrators and monitor the region where there is a continuous caste conflict.
He also urged Stalin to declare the region as a violence-prone area and give protection to the SC people.
நாங்குநேரி பெருந்தெரு ஆதிராவிடர் குடியிருப்பிற்குள் ஆயுதங்களோடு புகுந்து பனிரெண்டாம் வகுப்பு மாணவன் சின்னதுரை மற்றும் அவனது தமக்கை சந்திராதேவி ஆகியோர் மீது கொலைவெறித் தாக்குதல் நடத்தியவர்கள் சின்னதுரையுடன் படிக்கும் மாணவர்கள்தான் என்பது இளந்தலைமுறையினர் எவ்வாறு இங்கே… pic.twitter.com/TH8rSFDLxN
— Thol. Thirumavalavan (@thirumaofficial) August 11, 2023
BJP state president K Annamalai, in a statement, said that it is unimaginable that the caste poison had spread amongst students. He also urged the state to initiate severe action against those who were behind the attack on the Dalit students.
திமுக விதைத்த விஷவிதை இன்று மரமாக மாறி இருக்கிறது. அதை வேரோடும், வேரடி மண்ணோடும் வீழ்த்தப்படும் நாள் வெகுதொலைவில் இல்லை. pic.twitter.com/9dnGwBDxuJ
— K.Annamalai (மோடியின் குடும்பம்) (@annamalai_k) August 12, 2023
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