Dalits murders on rise in Tirunelveli district

TIRUNELVELI: Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu has registered the highest incidences of Dalit murders said vice-chairman of the National Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) commission L Murugan, who asked for a detail report from the district administration on the issue.

Speaking to media persons after reviewing the implementation of various State and Central government sponsored welfare schemes for the  SC/ST people in Tirunelveli district on Friday, Mr. Murugan said that Tamil Nadu is one of the states where more number of cases under the SC/ST (Prevent-ion of Atrocities) Act has been registered.

“Around 5,340 cases are still pending in the state,” he said, adding, the higher level of awareness among the Dalits might be one of the reasons for the registration of more number of cases. “The absence of State SC/ST Commission in Tamil Nadu too may be the reason for more number of cases coming to the notice of the National commission as the states having state SC/ST Commission would not refer cases against Dalits to the National Commission,” added Murugan. He assured necessary steps from his side if Tamil Nadu made efforts to establish a State SC/ST Commission.

In Tirunelveli district, 412 cases registered under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act were under investigation and trial. Among these 22 cases are against Dalit women and 33 are murder cases in which the victims are Dalit men,” said Mr. Murugan, adding, Tirunelveli district registered more number of murders against Dalits in the state. “I asked the district collector and the district SP to submit a detailed report on the reasons for the increased number of Dalit murders by non-Dalit accused and their suggestions to overcome it,” said Murugan.

Expressing satisfaction over the timely disbursements of compensation from the ‘Victims Welfare Fund’ for the various Dalit victims in the cases registered under SC/ST Act, Mr. Murugan said that during the current fiscal year around '76 lakh has been disbursed in the district from that fund. In the month of June alone '16 lakh from the ‘Victims Welfare Fund’ has been released,” said the vice-chairman.