Case primary details

Fact finding date

Case Incident details

Case summary

Brutal Mob Attack, Untouchability Practice & Social Boycott on Irula Tribal Family, and Negligence, Bias & Dereliction of duty by Police Officials in Vadakollai village of Villupuram

Vadakollai village, Nehanur panchayat, Gingee taluk, Villupuram district is home to only one Irula family (Janakiammal family), 240 Dalit families and nearly 1100 caste Hindu Vanniyar families and some caste Hindu Kounder families. Untouchability practice is still prevalent in this village. Double tumbler system is practiced in this tea shop of K. Elumalai (father of Srinivasan). In this tea shop, Dalits were given in a seprate glasses and they have wash their tea glasses on their own. During funeral procession Dalits were not allowed to throw flowers and garlands while going through the caste Hindu residential area. The Nehanur Panchayat President himself boastfully acknowledges the untouchability practice prevalent in this village.

PREVIOUS ATROCITIES AND PROLONGED STRUGGLE:

Janakiammal family, the only Irula family in the village, experienced discriminations and subjected to un-touchability practice and humiliations for a long time. During the DMK government they were given 3 cents of housing land in the village. Their neighbor Srinivasan s/o Elumalai, on multiple occasions abused and threatened them to vacate the premises. In 2002, Janakiammal went to agricultural work in a field, alongside Saroja, belongs to caste Hindu Vanniyar community. Saroja who could not tolerate that Janakiammal working next to her, verbally abused her referring derogatory regarding caste name, saying, Irula prostitute, who dare you work next to me? Janakiammal objected to this abuse and told that she has no right raise objection other than the owner of the land. Saroja, who could not tolerate the assertion of a tribal woman, verbally abused her, saying, you Irula dog! how dare you question me? Having said so she dragged Janakiammal by her hair and assaulted her. Janakammal lodged a complaint with the Valathi Police station and a case was filed against Saroja. But the caste Hindu Kounder community members threatened Janakiammal that her son will implicated under murder charge and will be imprisoned and his education & career will be under jeopardy. Due to fear and intimidation Janakiammal withdrew the complaint. Janakiammal’s neighbor Mahalakshmi, w/o Srinivasan indulged in character assassination of Janakiammal by spreading baseless and false rumours in the village about the chastity and sexuality about Janakiammal. Many times Mahalakshmi spread false rumor projecting Janakiammal as a thief and immoral woman. Mahalaksmi and her husband very often quarreled with Janakiammal and Ramachandiran to vacate the premises.

CASE HISTORY:

Mrs. Janakiammal (41) w/o Ramachandiran, resident of Vadakollai village, Nehanur panchayat, Gingee taluk, Villupuram district – belongs to Irula Tribal community. Jannakiammal, a mother of two sons namely Vijayan (27) and Murugan (25), was subject to untouchability practice, character assassination and baseless accusations by the neighbor namely Mahalakshmi (30) w/o Srinivasan, belongs to dominant caste Hindu Vanniyar community.

On 05/06/2014 around 2 pm while Mrs. Janakiammal, was returning to home after work, she was stopped by one Parimala w/o Shankar. Parimala, enquired Janakiammal whether she plucked lemons from her garden? Janakiammal denied this accusation and asked who made this false accusation. Parimala replied that Mahalakshmi told this to her. Janakiammal on returning home, she called Mahalakshmi and asked why she is making such false accusations and spreading rumors assassinating her character. On hearing this, Mahalakshmi verbally abused Janakiammal referring derogatory regarding caste, saying you Irula prostitute, how dare you question me. Malar mother-in-law of Mahalakshmi pacified Janakiammal and asked her to go home.

On the same day evening around 5pm, Mahalakshmi told her husband Srinivasan that Janakiammal verbally abused her. When Janakiammal and her son Vijayan, were returning home along with their cows, Srinivasan verbally abused Janakiammal saying, you Irula prostitute how dare you question my wife? You are only one family you should abide by our dictum. When Vijayan objected to this, Srinivasan abused him saying, you son of Irula prostitute how dare you question me? Saying so he kicked on the back of Vijayan and as he collapsed to the ground, Srivasan tried to strangulate him by pressing over his neck with his leg. On seeing this Janakiammal, came to his son’s rescue. Srinivasan abused her saying, you prostitute of the village, why you questioned my wife and slapped her. Hearing this, Ramachandran (Janakiammal’s husband) came to their rescue. Ramachandiran witnessed Srinivasan lowering his underpants and showing his sex organ at Janakiammal saying, I will fuck you at this very place. Ramachandiran was also assaulted by Srinivasan. Then Janakiammal, Ramachandira and Vijayan to avoid further conflict, kept calm and went inside their house.

Following this episode, Mahalakshmi informed about this fight to her parents and relatives. Around 7 pm, father of Mahalakshmi (Tailor Nallathambi), her brothers and 6 others, who were residing in Periya Aharam, Gingee, came to Mahalakshmi’s house. Nallathambi verbally abused Janakiammal’s family saying, how you one Irula family trying to be assertive among our majority community (Vanniyars/Kounders)? Nallathambi shouted saying, bring the Irulas out of their house. When Ramachandiran and Vijayan came out of the house, Nallathambi threatened them that they will not allow Ramachandiran to run the mobile vegetable shop in Gingee. The mob ordered them to remove their hut and to go somewhere else. The mob torn the hands and legs of Vijayan with a knife. Janakiammal and Ramachandiran came to his rescue. The mob brutally assaulted Ramachandiran and Janakiammal with wooden logs. Srinivasan slapped Janakiammal, who fell in the road and collapsed. The mob ransacked the roof of the hut and this atrocity sustained for nearly for an hour, but no one came to their rescue.

Later Ramachandiran called 108 ambulance service, who told that they will come after an hour. The ambulance reached around 9.30 pm, Janakiammal who remained unconscious since the attack, Vijayan and Ramachandiran were taken to the Gingee Government Hospital.

On 06/06/2014, 10.30 am a police man came to the hospital and got the statement from Janakiammal and Vijayan. But the police man has not written the statement as given by Janakiammal. When he read out the statement, Janakiammal objected to it. The affidavit given by Janakiammal was manipulated and reduced as a petty quarrel, but the police man compelled them to sign the statement. Fearing not to have any conflict with the police department, Janakiammal signed the statement. On the same day, around 4 pm, Ramachandiran went to the Valathi Police Station and lodged a complaint regarding this atrocity. Since then, caste Hindu elders of the village are exerting pressure on the Irula family to withdraw the complaint, without even asking the perpetrators to apologize for the assault. But Ramachandiran and Janakiammal refused to withdraw the complaint.    

After some days, since the Deputy Superintendent of Police called Ramachandiran’s family for the enquiry, they when to the DSP office. During the enquiry, the DSP found to be biased in favor of the perpetrators. The DSP threatened them that he will file cases if they refuse to withdraw the complaint. He exerted pressure on the family, saying that if their son Vijayan is implicated under legal case, he career would be in jeopardy. But Janakiammal, Ramachandiran and Vijayan stood by their decision and refused to withdraw the complaint. The victims questioned the DSP, saying people from another village came to our house and brutally assaulted us and ransacked our house, why don’t you question them? After delaying for five days, on 11/06/2014, the filed an FIR against the perpetrators under FIR No. 141/14 u/s 147, 294(b), 323, 506(ii) of IPC r/w 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s) of PoA Amendment Ordinance, 2014.

The caste Hindu Vanniyar elders exerted pressure on the police to file a case against the victims of this Irula family. Hence the Valathi Police station filed a case against the victims based on the complaint given by Srinivasan under FIR No. 142/14 u/s 147, 294(b), 323, 506(ii) of IPC. As Janakiammal and her family, refused to withdraw the complaint, the caste Hindu Vanniyars and Kounders boycotted the family and objected the family members to grace their cows on the open filed belongs to caste Hindus. Now the victims of this brutal atrocity are also charged under false counter case and the three victims have got bail and appearing before the Valathi Police station twice a day.

FINDINGS:

1. Janakiammal family being a only one Irula family living in the village, were subject to humiliations, discriminations, verbal abuse, character assassination for a long time. The assertiveness in scorned by the caste Hindus residing in the village.

2. Janakiammal and her family members were subject to this brutal assault and humiliations as Janakiammal objected to the false accusations and rumors spread by Mahalakshmi and her husband.

3. Untouchabilty practice and discrimination is widely practiced in this village and the Panchayat President himself acknowledged the prevalence of such practice.

4. Janakiammal lodged a complaint regarding atrocity in the year 2002, but she withdrawn the complaint due to fear of career prospectus of her son and due to intimidation by the caste Hindu community in the village.

5. The police officials were found to be negligent and biased in favor of the dominant caste Hindu Vanniyars and Kounders. The DSP himself threatened the family to withdraw the complaint.

6. The statement given by Janakiammal was ignored and the police reduced the crime into a petty quarrel to dilute the case and enabled the perpetrators to escape from harsh punishments.

7. The FIR registration was delayed enabling the village elders to exert pressure on the victim family to withdraw the complaint. When the victims refused to withdraw the complaint, the Valathi Police station entertained the false counter complaint given by Srinivasan and filed a false case against the Janakiammal, Ramachandiran and Vijayan.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. The district administration should provide immediate relief and rehabilitation to the victims of atrocities and should provide security and protection to this vulnerable family.

2. Medical treatment should be provided to Janakiammal and Vijayan who sustained serious injury in this atrocity.

3. The Deputy Superintendent of Police and other police officials who threatened the victims of the atrocity to withdraw the complaint and who failed to arrest the accused - should be implicated under the appropriate sections of the PoA Amendment Ordinance, 2014 such as 4(2)(a) and 4(2)(b).

4. The perpetrators of the atrocity should be arrested immediately and collective fine should be imposed on the villagers who threatened the victims to withdraw the complaint under section 16 of the PoA Amendment Ordinance, 2014.

5. Appropriate sections of the PoA Ordinance such as 3(1)(g), 3(1)(p), 3(1)(q), 3(1)(w)(ii), 3(1)(y), 3(1)z), 3(1)(za)(a) and 3(1)(zc) should be invoked in this atrocity.

6. The District Administration should provide a concrete house under the Tamil Nadu Government Green House Scheme, considering the eligibility and abject condition of the victims.