Ground Zero
A month after a Thevar boy was allegedly killed by a Scheduled Caste boy in a Government Higher Secondary School, fear was still palpable in Adaichani, a quiet village in the picturesque Ambasamudram Taluk of Tirunelveli district. The houses in the Dalit neighbourhood of the village in Tamil Nadu, which are lined with tiled roofs, are basic. Most of the residents are labourers with modest means. They hope that the younger generation will get a shot at a better life. They equally dread the possibility of an explosion of caste violence.
The incident occurred on April 25. M. Selva Suriya, a Thevar boy studying in Class 12, was allegedly attacked by a teenager belonging to the Arundhathiyar community along with two Muslim boys of Class 11. While the Thevars are a socially and politically dominant Other Backward Classes community, the Arundhathiyars are among the most disadvantaged within the SCs spread across western and southern Tamil Nadu. Selva Suriya, who had suffered a serious injury on his head, was treated in a hospital for five days for internal haemorrhage. He died after failing to respond to the treatment. While the two Muslim boys are out on bail, the Arundhathiyar boy is in a juvenile home.
