Three weeks following their release, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has directed the 13 convicts in the Melavalavu massacre case to refrain from entering the village in Madurai where the lived and committed the crime. Instead, they have been instructed to stay in Vellore till a petition challenging their early release is disposed of.
An interim order passed by the bench of Justices Vaidhyanathan and Anand Venkatesan stated that the released convicts would have to move to Vellore till the case is underway and have to give their contact details to the office of the Superintendent of police in both Vellore and Madurai. They have been directed by the court to submit their passports and have to appear before the Vellore district probation officer on every second and fourth Sunday. They should further appear before the Vellore SP on every first and third Sunday. No meetings or public events are to be held by the convicts or the petitioner himself.
The directives were given by court based on a petition by Rathinam, who had alleged that the convicts were released prematurely without considering the disturbance to public order that will be caused.
The 13 people from the Thevar community, who were released, were amongst 17 residents of the village who had murdered six Dalit men on June 30, 1997. They killed the men for contesting and winning the Panchayat elections. They were sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court and the verdict was upheld by the High Court and Supreme Court.
One of the convicts died during the trial and three others were granted remission in 2008 by the DMK government during Anna Centenary celebrations.
"Despite the gravity of their crimes, two governments have decided to release them," the founder of anti-caste NGO Evidence, Kathir, had earlier told TNM. "It sets a very bad precedent and the opinion of the affected families should have been recorded," he adds.
The family members of the victims had also sent a petition to the Tamil Nadu government against the release of the convicts. They further alleged that the release had political overtones.
"They have done this just for their own vote bank and to get favour amongst the Thevar community," alleged the brother of one of the victims, Karuppiah. "But this is all at the cost of human life. We, Dalits, will have no peace here anymore. Every day we will wonder — is today the day they will strike back?"