Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) chief and MP Thol. Thirumavalavan staged a protest in Chennai on Thursday, January 19 against the mixing of faeces in a well used by Dalits in Vengavayal, a village in Pudukottai. Speaking at the protest, he said that ministers and the Chief Minister must have visited the Pudukottai village for the sake of human rights and social justice.
Questioning why there have been no arrests despite a special team investigating it for two weeks, Thirumavalan asked, “Why were only members from the Dalit community investigated? Nobody else was questioned. Did the police not find anyone else suspicious?” The MP said that the government and the law makers might embody the ideals of Periyar and Ambedkar but the same need not be the case with the police officers who are investigating the case. Thirumavalavan further said that it is a struggle for people from the oppressed communities to even register a complaint with the police against caste discrimination.
The MP said, “Victims must not be affected again. Isn’t that why we have laws, police officers, courts and the governments? Only in cases where SCs and STs [Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes] are affected, the police files a case on the victims and the perpetrators. How is this fair?” He further said that the police are quick to blame the oppressed community saying that it must have been “one of them” who was involved in the crime.
Demanding the arrest of the culprits who threw faeces in the well, Thirumavalavan said, “The Tamil Nadu government must destroy the well in which the faeces was thrown in. A new well should not be built. The Dalit people in the village must be able to get water from the common well without any obstacles.” The MP further stated that they are fighting for human rights and there is no room for compromise in that regard.