Dalit residents in Pudukottai’s Vengavayal village boycotted the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, April 19, expressing anger over the government’s inaction against the culprits who contaminated their drinking water with faeces. The residents alleged that the government is shielding the caste Hindu groups behind the caste atrocity. They refused to vote until the real culprits were found and arrested.
The agitating residents registered their protest by tying a black cloth over their mouths and carrying posters expressing their disappointment. One of the posters read: “We get water mixed with faeces and you want our votes? Do you want our vote after we drank water mixed with faeces?”
Speaking to TNM, Kanakaraj, a resident of Vengavayal said that they are boycotting every election, including local panchayat elections, until the culprits are arrested. His daughter was one among the children who fell ill after drinking the contaminated water. Kanakaraj said, “There are 20 families and around 106 people from our village who decided to boycott the elections. Instead of taking action against the culprits, the police came after our people and confiscated some of their phones. How can they expect our vote? We are ready to even surrender our ration cards that the government provided because we are extremely disappointed in how they handled this situation.”
Kanakaraj also said that no political party approached them to convince them against boycotting the elections. He said, “No party tried to reassure us or promise that the culprits would be caught. Only a government official visited us and asked us to reconsider our decision. But we are firm in our stand and will not vote until we get justice.”
In December 2022, five children from Dalit families in Vengavayal fell ill due to water contamination. After the residents checked the water tank they were shocked to find that the water was contaminated with human excreta. The incident sparked wide outrage. Subsequently, the tank was subsequently disinfected and the pipes connecting houses and the tank were replaced.
However, little action was taken against the perpetrators. The Dalit residents allege that the police and the investigating officers were trying to pin the blame on them instead. Dalit rights activist Kathir told TNM earlier that in the name of recording statements from residents, they were asked if they had contaminated the tank.
DNA samples of some of the residents were ordered to be collected to see if it would match the DNA material found in the tank. However, eight Dalit residents refused to give their samples as they were worried that it would be used to frame them. Out of those summoned, nine of them were from the Dalit community and two from the Mutharaiyar community, which is classified as Backward Class (BC).