A DMK man has been booked for harassing SC Hindu women while they were bathing in a public pond. The man hurled casteist abuses at them and threw away their clothes. Despite filing a complaint, he is evading arrest reportedly due to political influence.
SC Hindu women of a village in Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu were chased away by the man when they were taking bath in a pond. They had gone to take bath in the afternoon of January 1. In the midst of the bath, Ayyappan, a neighborhood man who came that way spotted them and hurled casteist abuses at them. He reportedly threatened to molest them as well. Frightened by the threats, they had to go home with only wet clothes on them to cover their modesty.
Ayyappan had picked up the dry clothes the women had put on the bank and threw them at thorny bushes. The women allege that Ayyappan harasses them often when they work in agricultural fields and cross his house. The man said, “Parachi(caste name) shouldn’t bathe here. Why do you come here? If I see you again, I will tear away your breasts”. He told them that the pond had been auctioned for fish farming and the public is not allowed to take baths.
The women say that they checked with the Public Works Department official who assured them that the pond hasn’t been auctioned to anyone. They filed a complaint with the local police but alleged inaction. Ayyappan is a DMK man and his wife is the Vice President of the panchayat.
Ayyappan, on the other hand, has alleged that the accusations are false and the women have filed a fake case against him under the SC ST Atrocities Act. He, along with scores of villagers, filed a petition with the district collector seeking to look into the matter. He claimed that the pond had been acquired for fish farming and the women were fishing illegally which he opposed.
The SC women say that officials are treating them with indignity, asking whether they have any video to prove their side of the story. “Do their womenfolk video record when they bathe? Aren’t they treating us like this because we are SCs?”, they ask. It is alleged that despite appearing publicly at the district collector’s office, police have failed to nab Ayyappan and are claiming that he is absconding. Another man Muthuraman who abused the women along with Ayyappan, has also been booked.
DMK claims to impart equality and social justice in the state and yearns to spread their so-called Dravidian Model to other states as well. But the DMK didn’t even acknowledge the incident. CM MK Stalin who was vociferous about caste issues when he was in opposition hasn’t even made a peep about the incident. Neither have Dravidar Kazhagam leaders like Suba Veera Pandiyan and K Veeramani. This is what awaits those outside the state who believe DMK’s social media propaganda about equality and social justice.