Following complaint Police conducted inquiry and Human feces were found in the overhead water tank
The incident took place in Vengaivayal village in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu. So far 85 witnesses have been examined; however, no arrests were made.
While addressing the reporters Sunday, Thirumavalavan announced that his party will stage a state-wide demonstration on January 19 against the caste crime at Vengaivayal village.
Chidambaram MP and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan has expressed shock and disappointment as the accused in the water tank contamination case at a Dalit colony in Tamil Nadu’s Pudukkotai district are yet to be arrested.
While addressing the reporters Sunday, Thirumavalavan announced that his party will stage a state-wide demonstration on January 19 against the caste crime at Vengaivayal village.
“The incident at Vengaivayal should make humans hang their heads in shame. It is shocking and disappointing that those who committed that hideous act of mixing human excreta in drinking water have not been arrested yet,” he said.
Thirumavalavan alleged that police officers in the ranks of sub-inspector, constable who conducted the inquiry as part of the investigation threatened the victims in the case, particularly members of VCK, to ‘confess’ that they had contaminated the water themselves.
“We took the issue to the notice of higher authorities. The team which had investigated the incident has now been dissolved and the Tamil Nadu government has now ordered a CB-CID probe. “
“We welcome that. Whoever committed this awful act should be punished severely… This should serve as an example for the whole country,” Thirumavalavan added.
The VCK leader noted that their demand was not to build a separate overhead tank for Dalits, but to raze the tank on which the excrement was found to be dumped as it stands as a symbol of shame for Tamils.
“Our demand to the government is that from a common overhead tank, water should be supplied through pipelines to the houses of the 25-30 Dalit families. Stressing this, we are going to stage a protest across the state on January 19,” he said.
It is to be noted that a few days ago, filmmaker Pa Ranjith took to social media and alleged that the officials investigating the case were forcing the Dalit villagers to accept that they were behind the crime. He also slammed the Adi Dravidar Welfare Minister and local MLA for not visiting the villagers.
The incident came to light last December when a few children from Vengaivayal were admitted to a hospital in Annavasal block after experiencing discomfort.
Doctors who examined the children asked their parents to check if the water supply to the village was contaminated. The villagers, who then noticed a foul smell in the water, checked the tank and found faecal matter in it.
This led to a huge outrage and following the intervention of district collector Kavitha Ramu and SP Vandita Pandey, the cops registered a case under sections of the SC/ST act as well as under relevant IPC sections.
Last week, while responding to a special calling attention motion by MLAs on the incident in the Assembly, Chief Minister M K Stalin said the government would deal with communally divisive and anti-social elements with an iron hand.
He said a special team was probing the case, 70 people were questioned so far and the culprits will be arrested soon.
