A 19-year-old Dalit boy in Sivagangai district was brutally hacked by three Other Backward Class (OBC) caste men on Wednesday, February 12 for allegedly riding a Royal Enfield Bullet motorbike. However, police said that the boy and the accused were in the midst of a verbal argument, when he was attacked.
The boy was identified as Ayyasamy while the accused have been identified as Vinoth Kumar (20), Atheeshwaran (23) and Vallarasu. The three are from the Agamudaiyar community who come under the Thevar caste cluster, who are all categorised as OBC. Vinoth Kumar is already an accused in another caste crime, according to police.
A case has been registered under the Prevention of Atrocites Against Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (PoA) Act under sections 3(1)(r) (intention to humiliate SC/ST person) and 3(1)(s) (abuse by caste name). Additionally, the accused have also been charged under BNS sections 294(b) (obscenity), 126 (wrongful restraint), 118(1) (intentional harm with deadly weapon) and 351(3) (criminal intimidation).
The FIR states that Ayyasamy, a third year BSc Maths student, had been riding his two wheeler in Melapidavur village in Sivagangai district on February 12 when an elderly man allegedly crossed his path without warning.
Ayyasamy got off his two wheeler and called out to the man to watch where he was going. The accused, who were nearby, picked a quarrel over this with Ayyasamy and abused him with caste slurs. Vinoth Kumar and Atheeshwaran, then allegedly ordered Vallarasu to attack Ayyasamy. Vallarasu pulled out a machete and hacked Ayyasamy on the arms, the FIR further says.
Ayyasamy allegedly fled home, bleeding and alerted his father. He was rushed to hospital and a case was filed at the nearby SIPCOT police station.
However, Ayyasamy’s brother Munniasamy, who spoke to the Tamil news channel Puthiyathalaimurai alleged that Dalits in the locality are repeatedly discriminated against, banned from using common roads and abused with caste slurs for owning comfortable homes or vehicles. Munniasamy also alleged similar harassment when his family was constructing their two-storey home. He told the Tamil channel that the reason for the attack on Ayyasamy had been out of caste supremacy and envy that a Dalit boy was riding a Royal Enfield Bullet.
According to the FIR, Vinoth Kumar is an accused in two other cases, including one related to an alleged caste crime. He and Atheeswaran have been previously charged under various former IPC sections for rioting with deadly weapon, intentional harm with deadly weapon, criminal intimidation and extortion including others. Atheeswaran also has two cases against him, but has not been charged under the SC/ST (PoA) Act before the attack on Ayyasamy.