In yet another fashion of justifying that Tamil Nadu can no longer claim as a land of social justice, a chilling caste crime that occurred in Nanguneri in Tirunelveli district has startled and immensely distressed the entire state and has displayed that the casteism and its pride are pervasive among the students. In a country that is religious polarized, the caste crimes in Tamil Nadu have become a huge challenge and this incident has alarmed for an immediate solution. 

The incident had happened on Wednesday night where a 17-year-old Dalit student, Chinnadurai was brutally attacked by his fellow classmates who belong to a forward caste. It has been reported that Chinnadurai is good at education and that he had faced caste-based harassments from his classmates. Chinnadurai was studying at a government-aided school in Valliyur and his parents are daily-wage labourers. 

Chinnadurai's sister 14-year-old Chandra Devi is also attending the same school. Some of Chinnadurai's classmates, who belong to upper caste, had forced him to run errands to buy cigarettes and other stuffs. He has repeatedly encountered caste-based harassments due to which he stopped attending school. Chinnadurai didn't go to school for ten days after which the school administration asked him and his parents for an inquiry for his absence. 

It was during this inquiry Chinnadurai's family told the school administration about the harassment that he was facing from his classmates. The administration has then issued a warning to those students for harassing Chinnadurai, a bright student, based on his caste. Ired by the complaint from Chinnadurai's family and a warning from the school, a gang of students plot a plan to attack Chinnadurai. 

According to the Superintendent of Police, Tirunelveli district, on Wednesday at around 10.30 pm, three students arrived at Chinnadurai's home and began assaulting him with sickles. The gang of students brutally attacked Chinnadurai with sickles and they targeted every part of Chinnadurai's body that he sustained severe injuries and his house turned a pool of blood. When Chinnadurai's sister intervened to stop the attack, the gang had also attacked her. 

The students fled the spot and the neighbours, after hearing the screaming of the siblings, had rushed them to Nanguneri government hospital. The siblings were then taken to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital where they are receiving further treatments. When the incident came to light, it has shocked Tamil Nadu and the relatives of the victims say that Nanguneri is becoming dangerous place for livelihood and that several families have abondoned the village for its extreme caste crimes. 

The mother of the victims, who was at the spot, has demanded justice to them as she broke down in tears. It has also been reported that the victims' grandfather, who witnessed the attack on his grand kids, had died due to heart attack. Police have registered a case under the Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and under the section of attempted murder. 

The district's Superintendent of Police said that six students have been taken into custody so far in connection to this caste crime. They have been remanded and lodged in a juvenile observation home for further investigations. The incident has sparked fury in the area as the relatives of the victims had held protests and blocked the road, demanding justice for the victims. 

Though both the siblings are out of danger, Chinnadurai had suffered fifteen cuts on his body while his sister has five cuts. The incident has also sparked another challenge and struggle for the Dalit students in Nanguneri as after learning about the attack on Chinnadurai and his sister, many Dalit students have become fearful and reluctant to attend the schools. 

In the midst of tensions in Nanguneri, Tamil Nadu state government has reacted to the incident. Taking to social media, Tamil Nadu's School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi released a video and said, "This is the government for social justice. I will bear the expenses for victim Chinnadurai's higher education as an elder brother." Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote, "The incident in Nanguneri is shocking. This shows how deeply caste poison has permeated even the young students." 

The Nanguneri caste crime has become yet another incident of how people are being harassed and discriminated on the grounds of caste in Tamil Nadu, which boasts to be the land of social justice. The state has recently witnessed an incident in Vengaivayal, Pudukottai where human faeces were mixed in Dalits' drinking water. In Tenkasi district, a shopkeeper, who belongs to upper caste, denied candies to the students from the backward community and there was also an incident where a teacher provoked a student about casteism, only to get schooled by the same student that 'all are equal'. 

நாங்குநேரியில் நடந்த சம்பவம் நடுக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்துகிறது. இளம் மாணவர்களிடம் கூட சாதிய நச்சு எந்தளவுக்கு ஊடுருவி இருக்கிறது என்பதையே இது காட்டுகிறது. சக மனிதரை நமக்குச் சமமான ஒருவராக அடையாளம் காணாமல் சாதி வேறுபாடும் மாறுபாடும் பார்த்து வெறுப்பதும், அத்தகைய வெறுப்பை வன்முறையாக… https://t.co/IA7oclHIYT

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) August 11, 2023