MADURAI
The need to accord special attention to Ariyalur district, where more caste-motivated cases are getting reported, has been stressed by a fact-finding team of Evidence, a Madurai-based NGO.
Referring to the rape of a 26-year-old Scheduled Caste woman in a village near Senthurai last week, A. Kathir, Executive Director, Evidence, demanded that the accused, a caste Hindu man, be booked under the Goondas Act.
G. Gopi, the accused, allegedly waylaid and groped the victim. In her statement to the police, the woman said he physically abused and threatened her with a knife before subjecting her to repeated sexual assault. As she resisted his attempt, the accused verbally abused her with casteist slur and told her that women belonging to her community must oblige men from the dominant community, the fact-finding report said.
After the rape, the accused kicked and pushed her on human waste lying nearby. He threatened her to not speak about the incident and fled the spot, the woman told the fact-finding team.
The All Woman Police Station in Ariyalur has booked a case of rape and invoked sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act of 2015. Gopi was arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
The report appealed for professional counselling to the victim; a compensation of ₹ 25 lakh and intervention of the National Commission for Women. “Importantly, more such caste-motivated cases are getting reported in Ariyalur district. There is a need for special focus on the district,” Mr. Kathir said.