advertisement
A 14-year-old Dalit student in Tamil Nadu's Madurai was allegedly attacked with a sharp blade by his classmate. The incident took place after school hours on Friday, 11 October.
An FIR has been filed under Sections 294(b) (utters any obscene words), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code, and sections 3(1)(r)(s), 3(2)(Va) of the SC/ST Amendment Act, 2015.
The victim had reportedly asked the accused to return his school bag, which the latter had hidden "for fun."
The victim, however, denied that there was any casteist annotation in the swear word.
“No, not caste and all. Just one swear word,” he told The Quint.
“He (the attacker) said, 'Hey look! There comes your father!' And when I turned, he slit my back and ran away. He's a nice fellow only, and we've never had a fight before. He usually keeps to himself and doesn't talk to anybody," the victim said describing the incident.
Speaking to The Quint, the school principal also said that there was "no caste angle" and the incident is being "blown up."
He said that he got to know of the incident through a WhatsApp message and went to visit the boy in the hospital.
The victim’s mother, however, told The Quint that caste discrimination exists in their village.
Speaking on the incident, she said, “I haven't involved that boy's parents in all of this yet. Frankly, they're quite alright. That boy's father and my husband go together for daily wage work. His father and mother are both nice people. The boy, too, if you see him you'll wonder, 'did this boy really do it?' I don't know what got into him that day. You see, I alone know how much of pain my son has had to endure these last two days. I don't want such things to happen to any other boy. That is all. I had no other intention of making a big deal of this."
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)