4 min readChennaiAug 11, 2023 09:09 PM IST
First published on: Aug 11, 2023 at 08:12 PM IST
A 17-year-old boy and his 14-year-old sister were brutally attacked with sickles, allegedly by a gang of students, on Wednesday night. The siblings, who belong to the Scheduled Caste, study at a government-aided school in Tamil Nadu’s Vallioor, and had complained to the authorities about caste-based harassment.
The attack came after the boy, whose parents are daily wage labourers, approached his school headmaster to flag instances of harassment and bullying by upper caste students from his class, who had allegedly been forcing him to run errands such as buying cigarettes.
Unable to cope, he stopped attending school, prompting the school administration to summon him and his parents for inquiry. After the family elaborated on the boy’s ordeal, the administration issued a warning to the students allegedly harassing him.
According to the Tirunelveli district Superintendent of Police, around 10.30 pm on Wednesday, three students allegedly barged into victims’ home and began assaulting him. His sister, who tried to intervene, was also attacked. Neighbours who heard their screams rushed them to Nanguneri government hospital, which referred them to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital for further treatment.
Police have registered a case under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and section of attempted murder.
“Six students have been taken into custody, remanded, and placed in a juvenile observation home,“ N Silambarasan, the Superintendent of Police, told The Indian Express.
The boy suffered 15 cuts on his body while the girl has five cuts, primarily on her hands. Both are out of danger.
The police’s handling of the crime, meanwhile, sparked outrage among the victims’ relatives and local community members. They blocked the road, during which a 60-year-old relative fainted and subsequently died of cardiac arrest, further escalating tensions.
Tirunelveli has been infamous for caste clashes in schools in the past too, which had prompted the state government to take measures to address the issue. In 2015, the district collector banned the use of coloured wristbands and other symbols that identify caste in schools, following increased violence in educational institutions. Like wristbands, students would sport tilaks and bindis in different colours – for instance, red and green for Dalits, yellow and red for Thevars.
The district administration had banned not only wristbands but also colourful T-shirts and pants.
A circular in August 2019 from the Tamil Nadu Director of School Education had also sought to curb the practice of students wearing wristbands, but the notification was later revoked by the then school education minister, who denied the existence of such practices.
In May 2022, a 17-year-old student died following a fight in a school during the physical training hour. The victim, a class 12 student from the OBC-Thevar community, was killed in a clash allegedly after he questioned his junior, a Dalit student, from Class 11 for wearing a wristband. Eventually, both boys were joined by others, and the fight escalated.
Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, the state school education minister, said he will personally oversee the future education of the siblings. “I am taking that responsibility not just as a school education minister… I am saying this as an elder brother to both,” he said in a video message. In a call to the broader student community, Poyyamozhi urged them to uphold values of unity and to treat everyone equally. He also noted his disappointment that such an incident occurred at a time when Tamil Nadu’s education policies are being recognised and emulated across the nation.
The police’s handling of the crime, meanwhile, sparked outrage among the victims’ relatives and local community members. They blocked the road, during which a 60-year-old relative fainted and subsequently died of cardiac arrest, further escalating tensions. (Express photo) 
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