Chennai
Cops ignore dalits in bondage
indianexpress Express News Service , The New Indian Express
Posted on Jun 14, 2011 at 12:45pm IST
CHENNAI: Police have failed to book perpetrators under the SC/ST
atrocities law in the case of a Dalit family that was allegedly
harassed and publicly beaten by caste Hindus in K Thattumal Village,
Kumbakonam. In fact police helped the main accused get an anticipatory
bail.
K Rajamanikkam (39) and his wife Radha had worked as bonded labourers
at a brick kiln owned by Thalaiparamasivam of Devanachery.
Thalaiparamasivam had promised the couple Rs 15,000 for one year's
work. But, after a year, he refused to let them leave. Instead he
claimed they owed him money. "When we moved to another brick kiln,
Thalaiparamasivam claimed we needed to pay him Rs 10,000 as dues,"
Rajamanikkam's sister 44-year-old Vijaya said.
When Rajamanikkam and Vijaya met Thalaiparamasivam at his marriage
hall on May 5, he and his brother Pandian allegedly abused them and
beat Rajamanikkam, said Vijaya. She claimed Thalaiparamasivam demanded
Rs 10,000 rupees to free them from his control.
"We borrowed Rs 10,000 and paid him. But in five days, he and his
associates Murugan and Loganathan, came and beat us with logs. My
brother sustained a head injury and my hand was broken," she said.
"When they approached the Swamimalai police station, the police
recorded Vijaya's statement, but obtained her signature without even
reading out the statement to her," said A Kathir, Executive Director
of Evidence, an NGO that works for Dalit rights. When the Evidence
team examined the case, they found the police had invoked neither the
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act
against the aggressors nor booked them under theBonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act.
According to Kathir, most Dalits and other people from the subaltern
community worked as bonded labourers in the brick kilns owned by caste
Hindus in Kumbakonam, but action had not been initiated by the police
or district administration.
Worse, Rajamanikkam moved from Thalaiparamasivam's brick kiln only to
end up a bonded labourer in another brick kiln. The police failed to
invoke the Bonded Labour Abolition Act in this instance as
well.Despite several attempts, station inspector Soundarajan could not
be reached for comment.
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