DALITS/SCHEDULED CASTES - 2013 - Indian Social Institute

government land for the past 20 years there. The government based on applications received from thefamilies has sanctioned title deeds to six families and efforts are on to secure title deeds for the rest,Chandappa said, adding the families received limited basic minimum facilities after protracted agitation.Claiming that locals and outsiders have encroached on rest of the land, Chandappa said the tragedy tookplace due to permission given by Bajpe gram panchayath to allow commercial complex come up illegallyin the elevated land above the houses of dalits. The waste from the complex is let out in the landoccupied by the dalits, he said adding repeated complaints to the gram panchayath and authoritiesconcerned did not yield any desired results. Stating that he had forewarned authorities about theimpending disaster at Thottilaguri, Chandappa said the state government and chief minister shouldintervene to provide justice to the victims. Compensation should be hiked from Rs 1.5 lakh announced bythe DC to Rs 5 lakh, he said, adding the government must give a written assurance on rehabilitating thevictims permanently. The state government must consider this fit case to be booked under SC/STPrevention of Atrocities Act, take care of the medical expenses of the five injured persons, and provide agovernment job on humanitarian grounds to dependents of victims. Stating that the state government hasnot met assurances given to dalits in the past, he said dalit organizations will jointly launch an agitation ifjustice is denied to the families at Thottilaguri. (Times of India 21/6/13)Dalit woman raped in Haryana (2)REWARI: A 25-year-old dalit woman was allegedly raped by a person for three years on the pretext ofmarrying her, police said on Sunday. The woman, a divorcee and resident of Qutubpur colony here, inher complaint on Saturday alleged Jhajjar district native Vipin Kumar of raping her, they said. Medicalexamination of the woman confirmed rape following which Vipin was arrested, police said. According tothe complaint, about three years back the woman went to Jhajjar to appear in an exam, where she metVipin and developed a friendship with him. On the pretext of marrying her, Vipin allegedly exploited thewoman, police said. Vipin got married to another woman on June 1, this year, they said. On hercomplaint, a case under relevant sections of IPC and SC/ST Act was registered against Vipin, they said,adding the accused was produced in local court, which sent him to judicial custody. (Times of India23/6/13)Tension in village as girl elopes with Dalit (2)DINDIGUL: Less than a week after two lovers from different castes committed suicide in Kodaikanal dueto opposition from their families, another inter-caste relationship, this time including a minor girl, triggeredtension in another place in Dindigul district. On Sunday, a caste panchayat in Murugampatti in AthoorTaluk summoned the family of a 20-year-old Dalit man after he allegedly eloped with a girl from the HinduYadav community earlier in the day. According to police, Marichelvan, a resident of Kallampatti nearMurugampatti, was a college dropout. In 2012, he reportedly fell in love with the girl, a class-XI student.The couple apparently managed to keep their relationship a secret. On Sunday morning, the girl told herparents that she was going to a temple. As she failed to return, her parents found out about therelationship when they came across love letters hidden in her schoolbag. Suspecting that she had elopedwith Marichelvan, the girl’s family lodged a complaint with the Murugampatti Police Station alleging thatshe had been abducted by the youth. Even as police began efforts to trace the missing couple, the girl’sfamily sought intervention of the Yadav community. The caste panchayat summoned Marichelvan’srelatives. They demanded that his family make efforts to trace the couple and provide any information onthe matter. Meanwhile, Murugampatti Police filed a case and were investigating. (New Indian Express24/6/13)Laws alone cannot fight caste bias (2)The move to strengthen the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,has to be seen in the context of the next Lok Sabha elections due in less than a year. The Congress-led