TN youth attempts suicide after video of assault goes viral
Upset over a video of his assault going viral on social media, a Dalit youth in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district attempted suicide by consuming poison.
G. Rahul, a resident of Poondi village near Thanjavur, is undergoing treatment at the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital.
Police on Thursday detained four persons and were looking for two others.
A group of six persons, three of them Dalits, had assaulted Rahul on suspicion of theft last week.
According to police, Rahul was working for Karnan, engaged in sand transportation business. On January 31, Rs 30,000 cash went missing from Karnan’s house and he suspected Rahul.
Karnan’s son Lakshmanan and his friends caught hold of Rahul and took him to a farm field, where they assaulted him with a wooden stick.
The youth, who sustained internal injuries in the attack, informed his relatives. The police had summoned both the same day and convinced Rahul’s family not to pursue the case.
Though the matter was considered closed, one of the men who had assaulted Rahul shared the video on Wednesday evening.
Shocked over this, Rahul consumed poison. He was rushed to the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital.
Police in Ammapettai town on Thursday detained four persons identified as Vicky alias Vignesh (25), Rajadurai (24), Parthiban (25), and Sarath (24). A police officer said they were on the lookout for two other accused.
The police registered a case of attempt to murder. It also invoked provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
