In Tamil Nadu, Dalit youth stops to defecate, is lynched

Seven people, including three women, have been arrested in Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district on charges of lynching a 24-year-old Dalit youth after he defecated by a village road, The Indian Express reported on Sunday.

The attack occurred on Wednesday in a village dominated by Vanniyars, a powerful Other Backward Class community in north and north-western Tamil Nadu. The victim was identified as R Sakthivel from Karai village. He worked at a petrol pump. The accused were arrested on Friday after videos of the lynching were circulated in the area.

Sakthivel’s sister claimed it was a caste murder. “On Tuesday, he was on night duty at the petrol pump and reached home on Wednesday morning,” R Theivanai told the newspaper. “Later, he received a call from his colleagues, asking him to come with his Aadhaar card and a photo for some official verification. When he left home around 1.30 pm, he mentioned how there was only a little petrol in his two-wheeler.”