Kallakurichi villagers allege youths arrested indiscriminately after school riot

The indiscriminate arrest of youths in Kallakurichi district in Tamil Nadu for the violence that had erupted during the protest seeking justice for a Class XII girl, who died inside the private residential school campus in the district, has completely disrupted the lives of the people in the district. Most of these youths nabbed by the police are first-generation college students, who seem to have been at the vicinity of the protest site while running errands. Villagers also accused the police of rounding up youths who were wearing black trousers or black shirts.

For Annamalai and Manjula, residents of a Dalit colony in Melapattu village in Kallakurichi district, who had worked as daily wage labourers in Kerala, their elder son Saravanan(21) is their only hope in life in the future. Manjula said, “We last saw him at home and met him next in the jail. A BSc geography student at a private college in Trichy, he stays at the hostel. He was here on leave for two days. I spoke to him on July 17 at 1 pm, when he was leaving for his hostel, and on July 19, I got a call from the police saying he was lodged in the Trichy prison.”

On Friday (August 12), The Federal met Manjula at her house, while her husband Annamalai had gone to Trichy prison to meet his son.

Manjula said that she met her son in jail who told her that a few people from the Gounder community (a backward community in Tamil Nadu) had cornered him while he was passing by near the school locality. “They asked him which caste he belongs to and after he told them that he belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC), they beat him black and blue for over half an hour and then handed them over to the police,” shared Manjula.

“We did not understand the connection. Is there something wrong if you are born as a SC?,” asked Manjula.

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Similarly, in the same village, G Prabhu (24), who also belongs to the SC community and works at a private fertiliser shop, was also caught by caste-Hindus, when he had gone to deliver guava fruit to a shopkeeper at Kachirapalayam in Kallakurichi town.

“I did not know why they caught him. They nabbed him several kilometers away from the place where the incident happened and then handed him over to the police,” shared Prabhu’s mother Tamilarasi.

Tamilarasi runs a fruit and vegetable shop at a main road near Melapattu village. “It was a Sunday. We shopkeepers generally share fruits among ourselves when there is a demand. On Sunday afternoon, a shopkeeper at Kachirapalayam asked for guava and I was the one who sent him to Serapattu (a neighbouring village, around 15 km away from their place) to pick up the fruits and deliver them to the shopkeeper at Kachirapalayam. Prabhu delivered the fruits, but never returned home,” recounted Tamilarasi.

They have also seized the two-wheeler in which Prabhu had travelled. “I need that two-wheeler to take the fruits and vegetables from the market. I don’t have anybody other than my son. Ever since the incident, life has become so hard for me that even eking out a living is difficult,” said a disturbed Tamilarasi.

Not just Dalit, Vanniyars too caught in the crossfire

On July 17, over a thousand people protested in front of a private school premises seeking justice for the death of a Class XII girl inside the school premises. The protest turned violent and the protestors vandalised the school, besides setting the police vehicle on fire. After the incident, Tamil Nadu police formed a special investigation team to find the rioters and arrest them.

Also read: Kallakurichi tragedy: After HC order, parents agree to receive body; last rites on Saturday

It is not just Dalits who are caught in the crossfire of the riot, but few of the Vanniyars (Most Backward Community), residing far from the school have also been rounded up by the police, as they were passing by the area.

At T-Kanjavaram, around 25 kilometers away from the school, A Anand(19), a Vanniyar BSc student from a private college, was in his village attending the temple festival. “He was at the temple festival and went to purchase a garland for the evening pooja. During the margazhi festival, the male in the family is supposed to give gifts to their sisters and he had gone to purchase them as well. But, he did not return. He was picked up by the police while he was on his way to town to get the garlands,” informs Anand’s mother Kesavamma.

“He was here in the village until 2pm. How could he have been involved in the riot?” asked Kesavamma. The villagers who were present at the festival also told The Federal that Anand was in the village until 2pm and he was only sent to purchase a garland for the temple.

According to different villagers who spoke to The Federal, most of the youths were held only after 1pm on July 17. “Since we were all busy with the temple festival, we did not know about the violence. If we had known, we would not have sent him to purchase the garlands,” said Rajalakshmi, Anand’s neighbour.

In jail for wearing black

Several villagers whom The Federal met on Friday also alleged that police arrested the youths who were in a black attire, though they were not at the protest site.

“Whenever I meet him in the prison, he keeps crying that he was beaten by the police for wearing black clothes. My son is fond of black and most of his clothes are black. He asked me if it is  wrong to wear black? Even I did not know how to convince him,” shared C Chinna Pullai, mother of C Pradeep, a resident of a Dalit colony in Melapattu village, who was also arrested in connection with the riot.

According to his mother, C Pradeep is a final year BE student pursuing his civil engineering at a private college in Salem. “He stays at the hostel there. Since it was a weekend, he came to the village and was returning to his college when he was arrested by the police. He left the village only after 12pm to return to his college for the upcoming semester exams,” shared Chinna Pullai.

It is not just Pradeep who was arrested for wearing black clothes. Three youths from Marur village, who were returning from a Murugan temple in Salem, along with four other friends, were also arrested.

Also read: Kallakurichi death case: Parents, villagers bid tearful adieu to schoolgirl

Jayapradeep, who has completed his diploma and working in a small finance concern; Santhosh, an IT graduate working in Bangalore and Vijay, a MSc student and folk artist, were on the way back home around 4pm, along with their relatives Selvam, Vinoth and his wife Rajeshwari and sister Valli.

According to Valli, the police arrested Jayapradeep, Santhosh and Vijay but let her, Vinoth, Selvam and Rajeshwari go. “We were all returning from the temple. We pleaded with them to let us all go since we had no idea about the riot. Jayapradeep even showed the photos taken at the temple to prove we were at the place of worship and not involved in the riot, but the police did not care and they even took the phone and trashed it,” said Valli.

Also, the police threatened her that if she did not leave, she would also be arrested.

“But, I did not leave. And, they did not even tell us where they were kept. Only after asking them repeatedly why the three were arrested, the policeman told us that it was because Jayapradeep was in black clothes,” Valli said. While Santhosh was visiting his village on sick leave, Vijay had two more subjects to complete for his second semester exams.

Similarly, a 37-year-old C Prabhu from Thozhuvanthangal village, who had gone to Kallakurichi to meet his friends was also arrested just because he was wearing a black outfit.

“He was a follower of Periyar, but he has never been involved in any such violence ever since I knew him in the last 10 years. On that day, he went on the bus to meet people for work, but he never returned. He was also not reachable and only through the media, I came to know that he was arrested,” said Parashakti, the wife of Prabhu.

People whom Prabhu had met also told The Federal that he was several kilometres away from the violence spot and he was leaving for his village. But, his black attire caught the attention of the police.

“We were all talking at the tea shop. When we came to know that the protest had turned violent, we thought of dispersing and I wanted to ensure Prabhu will return home safely. But, since police were deployed heavily, I could not walk along with him, and so, he said he would take care of himself and asked me to leave. Even before we finished our discussion, the police came in their jeep and took Prabhu,” shared Murugesan, a friend of Prabhu.

“We pleaded with them that we were just talking casually and he has nothing to do with it. But, the police said that they were taking him because was wearing black and they would leave him in a few hours. He is still in jail,” Murugesan said.

When asked about it, a senior official associated with the Special Investigation Team told The Federal that they are going by evidence and none of the arrests made on the day of occurrence were done by them.

However, a senior official associated with the Kallakurichi police, who did not want to be named denied the people’s allegations and said that the arrests were made based on hard evidence.