A 20-year-old Dalit youth belonging to the Paraiyar community died by suicide on 23 December, a day after he was tortured by Tamil Nadu Police in custody and beaten up by upper-caste Hindu mob for entering an upper caste locality.
The incident happened in Surappattu of Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu.
Raja, the Dalit youth was passing the Vanniyar street in his village dominated by upper-caste Hindus on 22 December, his parents said to The Siasat Daily. An elderly man who was sitting, started choking and requested water to Raja. To help the senior citizen, Raja knocked at one of the doors of a Vanniyar man named Murthy. Offended that a Dalit man ‘had the courage to enter the streets prohibited for them’, the 45-year-old started abusing and hurling casteist slurs at Raja, the Dalit family said to the news paper.
This led to an argument between the two and soon the Dalit youth was surrounded and beaten up by Vanniyar men.
Following the incident, Raja was arrested by the police on a false bike theft complaint. According to his family, the police took Raja into custody and reportedly tortured him. The Dalit youth was left after police threatened to file more cases against his family, Raja’s parents alleged.
A day after police torture, the Dalit youth died by suicide.
Raja’s father has lodged a complaint and Murthy has been charged with the SC/ST Act and Section 306 of the IPC (abetment of suicide).
