In fresh developments in the Vengaivayal caste atrocity case in Tamil Nadu, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ordered the Investigating Officer (IO) to re-apply for DNA test requests, after affected Dalits alleged an unfair investigation. The Madurai court was hearing a petition filed by K Muthukrishnan in connection with the mixing of human faeces, allegedly by the Mutharaiyar caste (Backward Class), into a drinking water tank used by Dalits in Vengaivayal, in Pudukkottai district. However, the Dalit residents of Vengaivayal say that the investigation is being carried out in an unfair manner, targeting Dalits instead of the perpetrators.
The Madurai court has now ordered that a list of the individuals whose DNA samples are needed is to be first submitted before the special court. Further, the special court is to hear the submissions of all concerned parties and pass a suitable order regarding the matter.
The caste atrocity case is currently under investigation by the CBCID (Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department). The CBCID had previously demanded DNA tests to be carried out in order to ascertain whether it matches the DNA material found in the contaminated water in the tank. The SC/ST special court in Pudukkottai had, in April this year, ordered that the DNA samples of eleven persons are to be collected after a requisition was filed by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, CBCID of Tiruchi Range, who is investigating the case.
However, two Dalit men from Vengaivayal – Muthukrishnan and Sudarsan – who had been summoned to give DNA samples, approached the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court and sought to quash the order by the special court judge. Among those summoned, nine are from Dalit communities while only two belong to the Mutharaiyar caste.
In the petition, they mentioned that the CBCID investigation made no progress in finding the accused persons who contaminated the water with human excreta. They also stated that people from Dalit communities did not have confidence in the investigation.
They further stated in the petition that the actions and inactions of the Deputy Superintendent of Police of CBCID created strong doubts in the minds of the Vengaivayal Dalit community. Instead of tracing the real accused persons, they alleged that the agency is diverting the investigation by treating the victims of the incident as suspects and harassing them in the guise of inquiry.
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