More than two months have passed since the water tank used by the Dalits of Vengavayal village in Tamil Nadu’s Pudukkottai district was found contaminated with human excreta. Despite the case being taken up by the CB-CID (Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Department) of the Tamil Nadu police on January 14, no arrests have been made so far. Now, members of the dominant Mutharaiyar and Agamudayar castes from the neighbouring Eraiyur village have launched a protest against the Dalits of Vengavayal.
On Tuesday, March 14, nearly 300 people staged a protest in front of the Pudukkottai district Collector’s office, claiming that the Dalit residents have joined hands with ‘outsiders’ to allegedly hamper the ongoing CB-CID probe. They have even demanded that the government impose prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to restrict visitors to the village.
In the aftermath of the water tank contamination incident which came to light in December last year, the Pudukkottai district officials had facilitated the entry of Dalits from Vengavayal into an Ayyanar temple in Eraiyur where they had been denied entry for generations. Dalit residents of Vengavayal have alleged that since then, the people of Mutharaiyar and Agamudayar castes have stopped visiting the temple.
The government also organised a ‘Samathuva Pongal’ (Pongal of equality) on January 17, and according to the Dalit residents, Mutharaiyar and Agamudayar women refused to enter the temple for the event, and the few dominant caste people who participated in the event refused to eat the Pongal cooked for the occasion. A fact-finding report on the caste crime suggested that certain members of either the Mutharaiyar or Kallar community could have contaminated the water tank with human excreta.
On Tuesday, March 14, around 300 people from the Mutharaiyar and Agamudayar communities staged a protest in front of the Pudukkottai district Collector’s office complex for about two hours, alleging that Dalits from Vengavayal had colluded with ‘outsiders’ to hamper the probe into the water tank incident. The protesters from Eraiyur denied allegations of caste discrimination against the Dalits of Vengavayal, and demanded that the government expedite the probe into the water tank incident.
The protests were reportedly triggered by certain recent developments in the two villages. Last week, members of Periyar Ambedkar Makkal Kazhagam, a local anti-caste outfit, put up posters featuring the names of three minors from Eraiyur across Pudukkottai district, alleging that they were responsible for contaminating the water tank with human excreta. The dominant caste protesters from Eraiyur have demanded action against the outfit for portraying the school-going boys as culprits.
In the posters, the Periyar Ambedkar Makkal Kazhagam also alleged that Dalit residents of Vengavayal were being repeatedly summoned by the police over the incident and being questioned for long hours, and demanded an end to this routine. The posters also demanded that the police return the mobile phones confiscated from the Dalits who were questioned over the incident.
Posters put up by Periyar Ambedkar Makkal Kazhagam
Vengavayal village falls under the Muthukadu panchayat, and the panchayat president Padma’s husband Muthiah was named as one of the suspects who could have allegedly contaminated the water tank over political or personal disputes, according to a fact-finding report by the Dalit Intellectual Collective. The posters too alleged that Muthiah was the one who instigated the three minor boys to mix human excreta in the water tank, and questioned why the police hadn’t arrested him yet.
Speaking to TNM, Pudukkottai district secretary of Periyar Ambedkar Makkal Kazhagam PK Murugesan alleged that Muthiah had orchestrated the inhuman caste crime on purpose. “When our team talked to members of the Agamudayar, Mutharaiyar, and Dalit communities in both villages (Eraiyur and Vengavayal), they said that those three teenagers would often climb atop the water tank and spend a lot of time there,” Murugesan said. He questioned the police inaction against the concerned panchayat president and block development officer on whose watch the crime was committed. He also demanded that the government appoint a Dalit person as the tank operator for the new water tank which is being constructed after the incident.
Apart from the posters, another reason for the protests was an attempt to break the water tank by members of the political party Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK). A day before the protest, on March 13, four TVK members attempted to break the overhead water tank in Vengavayal, calling it a symbol of casteism. Police detained the four TVK functionaries — the party’s state youth wing secretary Muruganantham, Salem district youth wing secretary Kaviyarasan, Sivagangai town secretary Ajith Selvaraj and Puducherry youth wing secretary Arul Oli — and booked them under sections 283 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation) and 427 (mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The police also heightened security around the water tank.
TVK cadres attempting to break the water tank in Vengavayal
Speaking to TNM, panchayat president Padma’s husband Muthiah alleged that the police didn’t take sufficient action against the TVK cadres, and questioned how they could enter Vengavayal when police protection has been given to the village for nearly three months. Muthiah also alleged that the Vellanur police were reluctant to file cases against those who put up the posters implicating the three minors in the crime. However, a sub-inspector of Vellanur police station denied Muthiah’s claims and said that the station is yet to receive any complaints regarding the posters. Following Tuesday’s protest, Pudukkottai Collector Kavitha Ramu has reportedly assured action against those who put up the posters.
“The boys are facing a lot of humiliation [because of the posters] and have stopped going to school,” Muthiah alleged. However, PK Murugesan of Periyar Ambedkar Makkal Kazhagam, the outfit that put up the posters, alleged that the boys had stopped going to school much earlier, ever since the contamination came to light in December.
Muthiah also alleged that since the caste crime was committed, many political organisations have been visiting the Dalit colony in Vengavayal and “instigating” the residents. He alleged that the frequent visits by politicians and activists had “disrupted” the daily life of residents of Eraiyur village, and the functioning of the Muthukadu panchayat. Following the protest, Muthukadu panchayat president Padma and four more persons reportedly met Collector Kavitha Ramu and demanded that prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC be imposed on Vengavayal.
A tense atmosphere has prevailed in Eraiyur and Vengavayal since December last year when five Dalit children of Vengavayal village fell ill and were hospitalised. The doctors who treated the children alerted the residents to possible contamination of the water. To their great shock, the residents discovered that the drinking water source of the Dalit families had been contaminated with human excreta. The case was initially being investigated by an 11-member police team, but after allegations surfaced that the police officers were forcing the victims to confess that they themselves had contaminated the water tank, the case was transferred to the CB-CID.
Watch: Pudukkottai water tank issue: Evidence Kathir slams TN police for harassing victims