1997 Melavalavu massacre
LocationMelavalavu, Madurai, Tamil Nadu
Date30 June 1997
Deaths7

The 1997 Melavalavu massacre refers to the murder of a Panchayat President of the village and six other men of the Dalit community by dominant caste members in Melavalavu, Madurai on 30 June 1997. The men were hacked to death after some dominant caste members refused to accept a Panchayat president from the Dalit Community.

Seventeen men were convicted for the crime and were sentenced to life imprisonment and three men were released in 2008. Thirteen of the convicted were released in 2019 during the AIADMK regime. The families of the victims claimed the early release had political overtones.

Background

The Melavalavu panchayat located near Melur in Madurai district. Melavalavu village, is dominated by the people of Kallar(Thevar) caste, while the people of the Scheduled Castes are a minority in the village residing mostly in Ambedkar Nagar area. The village Panchayat was allocated to the members of the Scheduled Castes as a reserved constituency in 1996 by the government. But the Dalits were threatened by the dominant castes that they should not contest the election as the Head of the Village Panchayat.[1][2]

Following this, elections were held on 31 December 1996 due to the inability to hold elections on 9 October 1996 and 28 December 1996. Murugesan, a member of the Dalit community won the election. He went to the district collectors Office and asked the district collector and the Tamil Nadu government for protection for himself and his dependents after threats by dominant caste members who denied Dalits as their president and vice president of Panchayat.[3] He along with six other men were murdered when they were returning in a town bus from Madurai after meeting the Collector office on 30 June 1997. The gang stopped the town bus near the village tank and hacked the Dalits to death.[3][4][5]

Village Panchayat President, Murugesan, Vice President Mukan, Raja, Sellathurai, Sevmoorthy, Bhupathi and Soundarrajan were murdered. The Village Panchayat President K.Murugesan's head was cut off and thrown into a well, half a kilometer away.[3]

Convictions

The 40 persons were charged for the offences under Sections 120-B, 148, 341, 506 (ii), 302 read with 34 read with 149 IPC, and Section 302 read with Section 3 (2) (v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, read with 149 read with 34 IPC. Though 40 were framed, only 17 got convicted and the trial court failed to punish the accused under SC/ST Act. The State didn't appeal against the acquittal of the other 23 accused, but the convicts made appeal before Madras High Court , and their conviction was upheld by the Madras High Court.

Madras High Court criticized the trial court for not punishing the accused under SC/ST Act.[6]

" The judgement of the trial court suffers from non-application of mind and the trial court failed to take into consideration the reliable testimony and the material evidence on record. Again, as rightly pointed out, the act of the accused was not merely to murder the deceased but also to terrorise the entire Scheduled Caste community from daring to stand for Panchayat election."
Melavalavu People Thanking Lawyers who involved themselves in this case to get justice for victims.

In 2008, three men were released on C. N. Annadurai's birthday during the DMK regime.[7] While one of the remaining 14 has died of snake bite during his trial. The remaining 13 people were released in 2019 during the birthday of M.G.R in AIADMK regime.[8] The men were not allowed to enter the village and were made to stay in Vellore till a petition which demanded against their early release is completed. The families of the victims had also sent a petition to the state government against the early release of the convicts. They also claimed that the release had political overtones.[9]

In February 2020, The Madras High Court withdrew the interim order which restricted the 13 convicts to Vellore district.[10]

Reactions

The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi(VCK), the Communist Party of India Marxist and other organisations commented against the release of the prisoners.[11] The VCK built a memorial for the victims of murder and thousands of the party cadres gather there every year to pay their respects.[12]

On 22 November 2019, police arrested Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front protesters at Madurai for protesting against the release of the prisoners.[13][1]

See also

Bibliography

  • Thirumaavalavan (2004). Uproot Hindutva : the fiery voice of the liberation panthers. Kolkata: Samya. ISBN 81-85604-79-7. OCLC 61247646.

References

  1. 1 2 Tamilarasu, Prabhakar (25 November 2019). "22 years after Melavalavu massacre, what has changed — and what hasn't". The Federal. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  2. ↑ "Supreme Court reserves verdict in Melavalavu case". The Hindu. 23 September 2009. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Rajasekaran, Ilangovan. "Premature release of all Melavalavu murder convicts sparks outrage in Tamil Nadu". Frontline. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  4. ↑ Arulappan, Vinodh (13 November 2019). "1997 Tamil Nadu Dalits murder: A long way for justice, a short way for release". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "1997 Melavalavu Dalit Massacre: Madras HC Directs 13 Convicts Not to Enter Village". News18. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  6. ↑ "Melavalavu Massacre High Court Judgement" (PDF). Article 51A. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 February 2022.
  7. ↑ "சாதி வன்மத்தால் நடந்த கொலையில் குற்றவாளிகளை முன்கூட்டியே விடுதலை செய்தது ஏன் ?: மேலவளவு வழக்கில் தமிழக அரசுக்கு நீதிமன்றம் கேள்வி". www.dinakaran.com. Archived from the original on 20 November 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "மேலவளவு படுகொலை வழக்கு-விடுதலை: உயர் நீதிமன்றம் அதிர்ச்சி!". மின்னம்பலம். Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  9. ↑ Thirumurthy, Priyanka (28 November 2019). "Melavalavu massacre: 13 convicts prohibited from entering village, to stay in Vellore". The news minute.
  10. ↑ "Restrictions on Melavalavu massacre convicts withdrawn". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  11. ↑ "மேலவளவு படுகொலையில் விடுதலை செய்யப்பட்ட 13 பேரின் விடுதலையை ரத்து செய்ய வேண்டும்! – இந்திய கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சி (மார்க்சிஸ்ட்)". Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  12. ↑ Thirumaavalavan 2004, p. 17.
  13. ↑ கண்டன ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்துக்கு கடைசி நேரத்தில் அனுமதி மறுப்பு; கைது தீக்கதிர் நாளிதழ் , 23 நவம்பர் 2019 , பக்கம் :1

10°06′04″N 78°21′22″E / 10.101°N 78.356°E / 10.101; 78.356

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