Tamil Nadu: SHRC seeks report from collector on attack of Irula teen

CHENNAI: The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has sought a detailed report within two weeks from the Villupuram collector after taking suo motu cognizance of a TOI report. The report highlighted the assault a 17-year-old girl from Irula tribe sustained in the hands of

vanniyar

men when she approached the district administration seeking a

community certificate

to continue her higher studies.


The teenager accused four vanniyar men of slapping her and shoving her last Saturday. According to the report, the men had accused 30 families in T Parangirni village of claiming to be

Irula members

only to avail community privileges. Based on the girl’s complaint, the

Kiliyanoor police

issued a CSR (community service register). Kiliyanoor sub-inspector V Sundaramurthy had told TOI that they could not register a case under SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) Act as the complainant did not possess a community certificate to prove she belonged to Scheduled Tribe community. Hence, a CSR was issued.

The complainant, Dhanalakshmi, had scored 354/600 in the Class XII examination and wanted to pursue her dream of enrolling for MBBS. She filed an application with the Villupuram collector a week ago for the community certificate.

In her application, Dhanalakshmi attached 14 supporting documents, including her school transfer certificate, in which she mentioned that she was from the Irula community.

When revenue officials led by Villupuram revenue divisional officer K Rajendran visited T Parangini village to make inquiries about Dhanalakshmi’s application, members of the vanniyar community raised objections, saying she and her family belonged to a nayakar sub-caste (most backward community). An altercation ensued and four men allegedly attacked Dhanalakshmi and threatened to kill the family.