Eight held for assaulting Dalit boy near Nagapattinam

NAGAPATTINAM: At least eight caste Hindu men, including three teenagers, were arrested near Nagapattinam on Friday for forcing a minor boy belonging to Scheduled Caste prostrate and apologise before the image of their leader ‘Kaduvetti’ J Guru on Thursday. The boy was also arrested for allegedly sharing a controversial 30-second video on his Facebook account about the leader.

G Jawahar, Superintendent of Police in Nagapattinam, said, “We have received complaints from both sides. Two separate cases have been registered. Legal proceedings will take their course. We are ensuring that these incidents do not affect public tranquillity.”According to sources, the video uploaded by the boy a few days ago allegedly had derogatory remarks about Guru, drawing much criticism from those belonging to caste Hindu community.

Several caste Hindu youths in Vandal confronted the boy at his house on Thursday evening. They took him to a temple and made him prostrate and apologise before a poster of Guru, which had been put up there, in the presence of villagers. The youths also shot a video of the incident and circulated it on social media.It was brought to the notice of Jawahar, who initiated a probe on Friday. Police personnel have been deployed at Vandal following the incidents.