A Dalit student?s wrist was slit by his seniors at Sivakasi near Madurai on Wednesday night allegedly because he was wearing a watch.
The group of around 15 seniors allegedly slit the student?s wrist with knives, following which Ramesh, 16, was admitted to the Sivakasi government hospital.
The police said the seniors approached the Class XI student when they noticed his watch on Monday. ?They removed it from his wrist and tried to throw it away. When he tried to resist, there was a fight,? a police officer said.
?On Wednesday night, while he was walking near the Thiruthangal railway station, a 15-member gang waylaid him and slit his wrists with knives,? the officer added.
After the incident, the boy went to a private hospital and was later shifted to the government hospital.
?He has suffered severe injuries on his wrist… a vein has been fully cut. We have advised his family to get him better treatment,? a source in the hospital said.
Manickam, Ramesh?s elder brother, told The Indian Express that they were planning to shift Ramesh to a hospital in Madurai for advanced treatment. According to him, the incident took place due to the rising tension between Dalits and non-Dalit communities in his village. ?Many Dalit students were forced to stop their education due to the frequent clashes,? he said.
Several such incidents have been reported in the state recently. ?There have been incidents in the past in which Dalit students have been attacked for wearing colourful clothes and shoes. In one incident, a student was attacked for wearing nice chappals,? said Samuel Raj, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front.
