The recent caste crimes in Tamil Nadu have been surging in a fashion of devastating the state's decades-long campaign for social justice. Being regarded as a land of social justice, Tamil Nadu is witnessing a trend that it hadn't imagined - the students becoming the force of spearheading the caste pride that's influencing them in various means including from their uprising, from their parenthood, the strong-etched roots of castes, and even from the movies. 

The incidents that took place in various parts of Tamil Nadu had a direct involvement of students and the attacks happened between them were not due to their conflicts in their classrooms and sports but due to their castes. The scale of attack was in a way that the accused students had neither hestitated to torment their fellow classmates from backward caste nor they would offer remorse for their heinous acts.

Recently, on Saturday- August 26, Tamil Nadu's Karur district has witnessed a caste-based violence, which has become the third caste crime within three weeks. In Karur, around 20 students, who belong to the upper caste of Urali Gounder Community, had brutally attacked a Dalit student for laughing inside a bus. The victim is a Class 10 student and belongs to the Arunthathiyar community, which is categorized as a Scheduled Caste. 

The victim is a resident of Uppidamangalam Alliyagoundanur village in Karur and he was attacked by the school students who belong to the upper caste. According to reports, the victim on August 25 boarded a government bus to go home from his school, the Government Higher Secondary School in Uppidamangalam. It has been reported that while he was talking to a friend in the bus, a group of upper caste students, who study at Rani Meyyamai School, spotted the victim and by citing his lower caste position, they asked him why he was laughing at them.

The upper caste students went on to intimidate the victim and said that they would attack him if he travels in the same bus the next day. However, the victim travelled in the same bus the next day so were the upper caste students. After seeing him inside the bus, they had brutally attacked the victim. Later, the victim informed the incident to his uncle who questioned the attackers. Then, a group of upper caste students and their associates went to the victim's village in the same day and attacked him and his grandmother, Kaliyammal. 

For the victim, who had lost his parents, his grandmother has been a caretaker and as both of them were attacked by the students, they were rushed to the Karur Government Medical College Hospital and they are getting treated. Following the incident, the Velliyanai police had apprehended four young people - Elango (19), Manickam (19), both of them are college goers and the rest two were 17-year-old and 14-year-old school students. The incident has sternly showcased how the caste pride is being instilled in the minds of minors and alarmed a need of immediate addressal system. 

The police had further registered a case against these four people under sections 294(b) - sings, recites, or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near public place, 323 - voluntarily causing hurt of the Indian Penal Code and under sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. While this incident has become the third caste crime in the state in three weeks, the other two were -  a group of upper caste students in Tirunelveli had brutally attacked a Dalit student and his sister for complaining about the caste-based harassment and this incident happened on August 9 and in another incident on August 17, a student from the backward community in Thoothukudi was attacked by ten other students of upper caste for interfering in a fight between students.