Tamil Nadu: 6 Minors Attack Dalit Classmate, His Sister With Sickle

Tamil Nadu police apprehended six minor boys on Friday for attacking a 17-year-old Dalit boy with sickles after the boy complained to his school management about three boys who were harassing him. The boy's sister was also injured during the attack.

The siblings were immediately rushed to the hospital, where they are now said to be out of danger. The family members staged a protest in front of the hospital, demanding that the police take immediate action against the attackers.

Minors Arrested For Attacking Dalit Classmate

The accused include three boys studying in classes 11 and 12 at the same school as the survivor. The other three boys were their friends.

The police said that the survivor was a student of Class 12 at a government-aided school in Tamil Nadu’s Valliyoor town in Tirunelveli district. He was subjected to repeated bullying by some of his classmates who belonged to an upper caste. They were subjecting him to harassment, extorting money from him, and making him run errands.

Police revealed that the Dalit boy had told his parents that he would no longer go to school due to constant bullying and harassment. According to the initial investigation, the boy’s mother had gone to the school and raised a complaint with the school management against the boys who were bullying her son. The school management has then promised to initiate action against the boys.

On Wednesday, after school hours, the accused gang of boys again threatened the boy with dire consequences if he made any further complaints against them. Around 10 p.m. that night, the three boys barged into the survivor’s house in Nanguneri and attacked him. The boy’s 14-year-old sister, who tried to help her brother, was also injured during the attack.

By the time the neighbours could hear their screams and come to help, the attackers fled the spot. The siblings were immediately taken to a hospital in Nanguneri.

After the survivor’s family members staged a protest demanding action be taken, a case under the SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) Act and other relevant sections under the Indian Penal Code, including Section 307 (attempt to murder), was filed against the boys. Consequently, the boys were taken into police custody on Thursday. They were presented before a magistrate court in Nanguneri and sent to a borstal home in Tirunelveli.

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