Madurai: The NGO Evidence has urged the state government to take appropriate steps to prevent increasing instances of caste atrocities against dalits in the state.
Its executive director A Kathir said here on Saturday that a study conducted by the organisation from November 2022 to January 2023 has revealed an alarming rise in atrocities against dalits in the state. During this period, nearly 450 cases have been registered under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. This is excluding data from four to five districts which could not be obtained.
He stated that Pudukottai district tops the state in the number of atrocities reported against dalits — nearly 10 to 12 cases under SC/ST Act are registered in the district in a month.
Kathir said that in a recent order, the Madurai bench of Madras high court, in a case pertaining to denial of entry to dalits inside a temple in Pudukottai district, had directed the authorities to detain people involved in such incidents under Goondas Act. This should be strictly implemented apart from registering cases against them under the SC/ST Act.
Kathir said there are several gaps to be addressed pertaining to registration of cases under SC/ST Act, providing compensation to the victims, arrest of accused people, granting bail and anticipatory bail to the accused. The conviction rates in the cases registered under the Act is also low in the state.
He said that the state-level vigilance and monitoring committee should be strengthened to address these gaps in cases registered under the SC/ST Act. The public prosecutors should also be sensitized to strongly object to the grant of bail and anticipatory bail to the accused.
The government should also take steps to eradicate the practice of manual scavenging in the state, added Kathir.
Evidence organised a seminar on the topic ‘Caste discrimination in Tamil Nadu’ at Madurai on Saturday. A report on the nationwide implementation of SC/ST Act was released on the occasion, based on a study conducted in various states.
Courtesy : TOI
Note: This news piece was originally published in timesofindia.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights
Trending Now
You may also like
