Dalit boys were forced to clean up feces with bare hands.
The incident took place on the Friday morning when five Dalit boys, aged between 10 to 15 had gone to relieve themselves in an open ground when three upper caste youths have allegedly forced the minors Dalit boys to clean up their excreta from public ground near Sirukundal village in Perambalur district in Tamil Nadu.
The land belongs to a nearby temple and being used as a playground by some caste Hindu youth, police said. The accused allegedly asks the boys to walk 100 metres with the gunny bag on their head that carried their excreta and dispose off the waste near a canal.
“The five boys were defecating in an open field at their village. The three youth surrounded the boys and started abusing and hitting them. Then they forced the boys to remove their feces from the ground with their bare hands,” said investigative lead police officer of the case.
The incident came to light after the boys informed their families, who along with members of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) staged a protest at Sirukudai, blocking village road demanding justice for the minors. The police rushed to the spot and arrested the three accused after being informed about the incident.
The accused have been identified as Abinesh (20), Silambharasan (22) and Selvakumar (24) and have been booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. “They have booked under various sections, including under provisions of the SC/ST Act, for abusing the boys. Further investigation is underway,” said Additional Superintendent of Police AC Kartikeyan.
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