Dalit residents of Vengaivayal in Pudukottai have threatened to boycott the Lok Sabha election, citing the failure of the police to arrest the culprits who were involved in mixing human faeces in the overhead drinking water tank at the village in December 2022. A couple of banners put up by the residents announcing their decision was removed later in the day.
The CB-CID has been investigating the incident reported in the village, located in Muttukkadu panchayat, on December 26, 2022. But no breakthrough has been achieved so far. In the absence of direct evidence or witnesses, the CB-CID has been trying to find some scientific evidence and has been conducting DNA tests and voice analysis of some of the suspects in the case.
On Monday, the Dalit residents of Vengaivayal put up banners announcing their decision to boycott the election at two places in the village. The village has about 30 families from the Dalit community. “It is going to be two years since the incident took place, but we haven’t got justice as yet. Politicians knock on our doors only during election time. Only for a brief time after the incident took place, did our issue become a sensation. People here have been mentally traumatised,” said M. Sindhuja, a Dalit resident, while speaking to The Hindu.
