Kalaiarasan, a 25-year-old Dalit man, was stabbed to death in a caste clash allegedly involving men from the Most Backward Community (MBC) in Thiruvannamalai district on Sunday.
According to the police, the incident occurred on Sunday evening. On the occasion of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s birth anniversary, sports events were organised for the children from the villages surrounding Vilvarani in Polur, around 35 kilometres from Thiruvannamalai town. During the event, a group of MBC men, led by Dayalan, 27, who belonged to the Vanniyar caste, had allegedly harassed some girl students and were questioned by the residents of the nearby Dalit colony.
The argument led to a fistfight during which Dayalan allegedly abused the Dalits using their caste name. He was then allegedly attacked by the men from the colony.
“Dayalan left the spot immediately and brought back a group of men including his friend Dileepan (27) to attack the Dalit men. In the clashes that ensued, Kalaiarasan was stabbed. Dayalan and his friends fled the scene after stabbing him,” a police officer told TNM. Though Kalaiarasan was rushed to the Government Hospital in Thiruvannamalai, he succumbed to his injuries.
Unrest prevailed in the area surrounding the Dalit colony on Monday as its residents engaged in a road blockade on the Chengam-Polur road. They demanded compensation for Kalaiarasan’s family and the immediate arrest of the accused. Around 150 police personnel were deployed in and around the Dalit colony on Monday.
The police arrested Dayalan, Dileepan and two other men in connection with the case and remanded them to judicial custody on Monday evening. The police refused to divulge the names of the other two men arrested on Monday. As of Tuesday morning, five more men have been detained in the station pending inquiry.
“The men who attacked Kalaiarasan were from a mix of communities including Vanniyars and Yadavars. All of them belong to the MBC community,” said the officer.
The police have registered cases against Dayalan, Dileepan and nine others under various sections of the IPC and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.