Federation for People’s Rights (FPR), Secretary, G. Sugumaran and Association for the Protection of Irula Tribals, Co-ordinator Praba. Kalvimani jointly met the press on 08.10.2009 at press club at Puducherry and told the following:
We, the Human Rights Activists belongs to Association for the Protection of Irula Tribals, Tamilnadu and Federation for People’s Rights (FPR), Puducherry jointly submit this memorandum for your kind and favourable action to save the Rights of the Scheduled Tribe Irula community.
The residents of Rettanai Village of Villupuram District, Tamilnadu one Ezhumalai and his wife Sakunthala both belongs to ST Irula community, worked in private brick kiln in karikkalampakkam Village at Puducherry. In Tamilnadu and Puducherry there is a practice that the brick kiln owners will give advance amount and take the ST Irula community people as bonded labourers to work in their brick kilns. In this case also the said Ezhumalai and his wife Sakunthala was paid Rupees 36,000/- as advance and they worked for some period in the brick kiln and went to their village to stay for some period.
The above said brick kiln’s owner one Venkatesh and his three henchmen went to the said Ezhumalai daughter Dhanam’s house 0n 24.09.2009 at Vikkravandi village and enquired about her parents, who were the labourers in their brick kiln. She told that their parents are gone to work in a brick kiln. But suddenly the said Venkatesh and his henchmen dragged her husband Viji S/o Ganesan and abducted him in car and disappeared. Then they contacted her over phone and threatened her to produce her father Ezhumalai and mother Sakunthala or otherwise give the said paid advance money.
The hapless Dhanam approached the Association for the Protection of Irula Tribals and with their assistance drafted a complaint and lodged it in the Vikkaravandi Police Station on 25.09.2009, for necessary action to secure her abducted husband. But, the Police as usual acted very lethargically and never took any steps to file FIR and trace the abducted person. Due to the continuous effort from the Tribal Association, atlast the Police filed the referred FIR on 26.09.2009. Meanwhile, the accused Venkatesh after knowing that the FIR was filed against him surrendered with the abducted person in the said Vikkaravandi Police Station. The Police instead of remand him to Judicial custody and lodge him in jail, left him free due to some political pressure from various quarters.
We infer from the reliable source that the Union Minister for State Mr. V. Narayanasamy (Congress), Puducherry Embalam Constituency MLA Mr. R. Rajaraman (DMK), Tamilnadu Kandamangalam MLA Mr. Pushparaj (DMK) and others pressurized the Police not to remand the said Venkatesh and were in the background of his illegal release.
The said political interference against a ST Irula Tribal is shocking and very unhealthy and in a strictly view it will attract penal offence under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. Regarding this incident, we both submitted a written complaint to the Superintendent of Police, Villupuram District on 28.09.2009 for necessary action. But till date no action was taken on our complaint.
We would like to point out the following speech delivered by Honourable Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in a conference of State Ministers of Welfare and Social Justice at New Delhi on 07.09.2009.
“Reports of atrocities against SCs, STs and senior citizens continue to appear with disturbing regularity. I have in fact written to the chief ministers of all states recently to enforce the provisions of the SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. It is shocking that conviction rate for cases of atrocities against SCs and STs is less than 30% against the average of 42 per cent for all cognizable offences under IPC. The state governments need to give more attention to this issue.”
The Supreme Court in its very recent Judgment delivered by Justices Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph, while dismissing the appeal filed by Kedar Narayan Parida and others challenging the Orissa High Court Judgment has slammed the political pressure and influence in criminal cases to let off the accused.
In this context, the above said political interference is totally against the Law, Moral, Ethics and also a great injustice done to a ST Irula Community. So, we kindly request your authority to intervene in this issue and order for an independent agencies enquiry like CBI and take appropriate action on the said politicians to uphold Law and Justice.
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