Nearly 300 dalits from Naduvoor village in Tamil Nadu have been barred from entering the village since a mob went on the rampage there following a murder in the first week of June, 2005.
‘‘Since then, students from our community have stopped attending school and we are unaware of the conditions of either our houses or our fields there, ’’ Arumugam, a villager was reported to have said. Arumugam is one among the 300 displaced persons who are unable to enter their village.
The village was in the news in the first week of June, when a group of Dalit youths waylaid and hacked Kannan, a member of another community, to death.
Even though it was proved later that the murder took place due to mistaken identity, much was wrought by the people from Kannan’s community. They set fire to the haystacks and nearly 15 houses of the Dalits, who fled the village, took shelter in the houses of their relatives in nearby areas. The police brought the situation under control but not before resorting to opening fire in the air.
Madasami, a village elder, has said only 10 to 15 aged Dalits were in the village and all the others had fled. They could return only through another hamlet on the western side called Melur, where their rival communities were dominant. So, the police were hesitant to allow them return fearing communal trouble.
‘‘Since then, students from our community have stopped attending school and we are unaware of the conditions of either our houses or our fields there, ’’ Arumugam, a villager was reported to have said. Arumugam is one among the 300 displaced persons who are unable to enter their village.
The village was in the news in the first week of June, when a group of Dalit youths waylaid and hacked Kannan, a member of another community, to death.
Even though it was proved later that the murder took place due to mistaken identity, much was wrought by the people from Kannan’s community. They set fire to the haystacks and nearly 15 houses of the Dalits, who fled the village, took shelter in the houses of their relatives in nearby areas. The police brought the situation under control but not before resorting to opening fire in the air.
Madasami, a village elder, has said only 10 to 15 aged Dalits were in the village and all the others had fled. They could return only through another hamlet on the western side called Melur, where their rival communities were dominant. So, the police were hesitant to allow them return fearing communal trouble.
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