Dalit youth roughed up by caste Hindu students

MADURAI: A Dalit youth from Melur was recently roughed up and attacked in public by fellow college students when he tried to square off an altercation over the playing of songs between caste Hindu students and Dalits.Selvam, a Dalit from Indra Nagar of Manapatti village in Kottampatti, is a third-year DEEE student of a college in Sivaganga. To get to his college, he has to commute to Melur to take a connecting bus. On Tuesday, students from a caste Hindu community started playing songs relating to their community leader. Not to be left behind, Dalit students began playing some songs simultaneously on their mobile phones. The resulting cacophony attracted the wrath of the bus conductor, who scolded them.According to eyewitnesses, Selvam tried to pacify friends from his community and asked them to stop playing songs. But, he was intercepted by caste Hindu students and an altercation followed.When the bus reached Melur, a group comprising caste Hindus, which had been told to gather by those inside the bus, roughed up Selvam.The following day, the caste Hindus openly discussed in the bus tackling Selvam if he voiced a protest against the playing of songs. The Dalit youth was soon forced to alight at a bus stop, roughly 2 km ahead of Melur, and was attacked by the caste Hindu students in public. He was stripped of his shirt and suffered internal injuries.Later, Selvam lodged a complaint with the Kottampatti police and was admitted to the GH in Melur.Anand, EDof Equal Rights, an NGO, demanded a case to be registered under Section 3 (1) (3) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.When contacted, Superintendent of Police Asra Garg said the complaint and a counter-complaint were received and investigations were on.