Convene meeting to address caste-based atrocities

Pointing to at least 70 cases of caste-based atrocities during the COVID-19 lockdown, Dalit Liberation Movement has urged the State government to convene a meeting involving the stakeholders and initiate appropriate action to render justice.

In a press statement, its general secretary S. Karuppiah said the State and district level monitoring and vigilance committees had not convened any meeting with regard to the issue. The State-level committee headed by the Chief Minister to monitor the implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had not met in three years.

Similarly, the -istrict level committee headed by the Collector had also not met, he said. He urged both the committees to convene a meeting to address the issue and prevent caste-based atrocities in the State.

Special courts must be set up in the State for expediting the trial of cases booked under the SC/ST Act, particularly in the districts where caste-based atrocities were rampant, he said.