1997 Melavalavu massacre

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

1997 Melavalavu massacre
Location	Melavalavu, Madurai, Tamil Nadu
Date	30 June 1997
Deaths	7

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 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 upper castes that they could 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 upper 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

This case was investigated as a criminal prosecution and was not investigated under the Prevention of Atrocities Act. 44 people were accused in the case while 17 persons were sentenced to life imprisonment on 26 July 2001.[6][7]

In 2008, three men were released on C. N. Annadurai's birthday during the DMK regime.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]

On February 2020, The Madras High Court withdrew the interim order which restricted the 13 convicts to Vellore district.[11]

Reactions

The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi(VCK) and the Marxist Communist Party of India commented against the release of the prisoners.[12] The VCK built a memorial for the victims of murder and thousands of the party cadres gather there every year to pay their respects.[13]

On 22 November 2019, police arrested Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front protesters at Madurai for protesting against the release of the prisoners.[14][1]

See also

• 2019 Mettupalayam wall collapse
• 2004 Kalapatti violence
• 2016 Ariyalur gang rape case

References

1. 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. 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. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
6. Thirumaavalavan (20 November 2019). Uproot Hindutva: The Fiery Voice of the Liberation Panthers. Popular Prakashan. ISBN 9788185604794 – via Google Books.
7. "1997 Melavalavu Dalit Massacre: Madras HC Directs 13 Convicts Not to Enter Village". News18. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
8. "சாதி வன்மத்தால் நடந்த கொலையில் குற்றவாளிகளை முன்கூட்டியே விடுதலை செய்தது ஏன் ?: மேலவளவு வழக்கில் தமிழக அரசுக்கு நீதிமன்றம் கேள்வி". www.dinakaran.com.
9. "மேலவளவு படுகொலை வழக்கு-விடுதலை: உயர் நீதிமன்றம் அதிர்ச்சி!". மின்னம்பலம்.
10. Thirumurthy, Priyanka (28 November 2019). "Melavalavu massacre: 13 convicts prohibited from entering village, to stay in Vellore". The news minute.
11. "Restrictions on Melavalavu massacre convicts withdrawn". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
12. http://tncpim.org/மேலவளவு-படுகொலையில்-விடு/
13. Thirumaavalavan 2004, p. 17.
14. கண்டன ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்துக்கு கடைசி நேரத்தில் அனுமதி மறுப்பு; கைது தீக்கதிர் நாளிதழ் , 23 நவம்பர் 2019 , பக்கம் :1

Bibliography

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