In the village of Vengamedu, located in the Erode district of Tamil Nadu, two Dalit youths, Naveenkumar and Kirubakaran, were beaten up by a group of gounders who then urinated into their mouths when they asked for water. The assault took place on the nights of November 20-21, and the victims filed a police complaint on November 23.
The victims were reportedly enjoying a quiet evening, drinking liquor when they were attacked. Their motorcycle was stolen too, leaving them stranded. Forced to spend the night under a water tank with no means of getting home, their situation took a darker turn the next day.
Confronting one of their attackers, the Dalit youths were met with further aggression. The victims claim they were not only verbally abused based on their caste but were also urinated on. The assailants didn’t stop there; iron rods were used in the assault.
The police registered a case against 20 individuals under the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 2015. However, only two names, including Kannusamy, were mentioned in the FIR.
“When we asked them to provide water, they urinated into our mouths. They abused us using our caste names,” Naveenkumar said in his complaint.
Police officials said that the Dalit youths were accused of attempting to steal chickens from a farm, leading to the registration of separate FIRs. Erode collector Raja Gopal Sunkara said that charges were filed not only against those who assaulted the Dalit youths but also in connection to the accusations of chicken theft.
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes is planning a visit to the village in response to the incident.
