Vengaivayal case: Police report opens can of worms

The recent police chargesheet naming three youths — Muraliraja, Muthukrishnan and Sudharsan — from the Scheduled Caste community as the main accused in the case of human faeces being dumped into an overhead drinking water tank in a Dalit neighbourhood of Vengaivayal in Pudukkottai district in December, 2022, has potentially opened a can of worms in a State where caste discrimination is rife and political discourse is often shaped along the lines of caste and linguistic identity.

The case has created a political impasse in Tamil Nadu today, with many of the DMK’s allies claiming that they disbelieve the final report and that they had lost faith in the Tamil Nadu police to get the job done.

Also read: The Vengaivayal water tank case: Explained

The chargesheet, which was filed after more than two years of investigation by the Crime Branch – Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID), claimed that the act was committed due to the enmity the three persons had towards Muthaiya, a former president of the Muthukadu panchayat and husband of the current president, Padma. The police claimed that Muthaiya had insulted the accused Muraliraja and his father, Jeevanandam, when they raised the issue of inadequate maintenance of their overhead water tank two months before the incident during a Gram Sabha meeting on October 2, 2022.

Furthermore, it is learnt that Ms. Padma had terminated the services of a tank operator, Shanmugam, who enjoyed the support of the Vengaivayal residents and when the residents requested that Shanmugam’s services be retained, their request was not heeded to and hence there was discontent.

A report in The Hindu quoting the investigation report said: “Considering the prevailing motive with Muthaiya and to take revenge on him, Muraliraja on December 26, 2022, falsely claimed that the water supplied from the tank was turbid with bad odour and he, along with two of the villagers Muthukrishnan and Sudharsan, climbed up the tank and committed the offence.”

In a statement posted by the Tamil Nadu Police on its official handle on X.com on January 25, 2025, the force claimed that the CB-CID had come to the conclusion that the accused had committed the act based on analysis of the photos and videos deleted (but recovered by the police) from the cell phones seized from three accused, Muthaiya and a few others and also on the basis of reports of the Tamil Nadu Forensic Sciences Laboratory, the DNA report, chemical analysis reports, voice test reports, and the medical reports of children treated by doctors, investigating officers’ procedural explanations, report from Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. And that the accused have been charged under the Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989.

Allies’ reaction

Naturally, the chargesheet elicited a sharp reaction from the DMK’s closest and most dependable ideological ally, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), whose president and Chidambaram M.P. Thol. Thirumavalavan said that the pending petitions in the court demanding a CBI probe into this had led the police to file the chargesheet in a hurry and urged the Trial Court to reject it. He also demanded that the State government hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai also rejected the findings of the investigation, expressing doubts over the veracity of the claims made by the police arguing that the accused named by the police had relatives and friends in Vengaivayal, and asked how they would mix human faeces in drinking water used by their own family and friends.

“We are disappointed. We want a reinvestigation into the case. Will anyone let their own family and relatives drink the water contaminated by faeces?” he asked.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s newly appointed State secretary, P. Shanmugam, demanded a CBI probe and said that it was not acceptable that the CB-CID cited local rivalry as the reason to justify the idea that victims mixed faeces on their own.

The Tamil Nadu BJP has also been demanding that the Vengaivayal case be transferred to the CBI. State president K. Annamalai had said in a statement that the Madras High Court-appointed one-man commission led by its retired judge M. Sathyanarayanan to probe into the Vengaivayal incident had only submitted an interim report. “The investigation in the case was not completed within the period stipulated by the Madras High Court,” he said, raising doubts on the chargesheet filed by the CB-CID, accusing three persons belonging to the Scheduled Caste in the case.

Human rights activists, on their part, have argued that the CB-CID’s conclusion is not based on indisputable evidence, as it should be, considering the extraordinary claim, but is rather the inevitable result of police’s inefficient investigation and growing political pressure in the context of the present State government’s claim of being the vanguard of social justice and an attempt to keep intact the intricately built caste-equations – locally and across the State — for the upcoming Assembly elections. While Dalits approximately account for around 20% (or more) of the population, a sizeable number, they often find themselves in a minority in the majority of constituencies, which, they claim, allows political parties to ignore their demands of inclusion, political power and development.

Even in the Gandarvakottai (SC) Assembly constituency and to an extent across Pudukkottai district, the Scheduled Caste community is a minority whose interests are pitted against the influential OBC communities.

Political protests

The case initially received strong backing from the CPI(M), along with prominent Dalit and Left-oriented voices, who criticised the inquiry led by the special team under the then-ADSP Ramesh Krishnan, alleging mistreatment of Dalits. The DMK government, to its credit, had organised ‘Samathuva Pongal’ at the Ayyanar temple due to the efforts by DMK Ministers, including Minister for Adi Dravidar Welfare N. Kayalvizhi Selvaraj, alongside local Ministers S. Regupathy and Siva V. Meyyanathan, which was opened to the Dalits, in January 2023, in an effort to unite the local communities – Agamudaiyar, Mutharaiyars and Dalits – despite criticism that many from dominant communities, men and women, refused to partake in the festivities. After this, no prominent political leaders from the DMK and the AIADMK visited the village, even during the elections that followed, locals claim.

Once the case was transferred to the CBCID, the CPI(M), which had initially mobilised local villagers, decided to wait until the findings were made public.

Given the significant presence of Caste Hindus in their constituency and the possibility of contesting for the same seat in the upcoming Assembly elections, the party took a measured approach. Throughout the inquiry period, Mr. Balakrishnan repeatedly clarified that the party’s stance was against the individuals responsible for the act, not against any particular caste.

Poll calculations

However, even as the DMK’s closest allies – the Congress, the VCK and the CPI(M) – have criticised and disagreed with the report, the State government said in an official release (January 25, 2025) that personal rivalry was the reason behind the case and requested people not to spread false information. The main Opposition party has been unable to put the ruling DMK in the dock. Those who have been following the issue for a while now say that none of the political parties – barring the VCK and the Left – would want to antagonise the local dominant castes and risk losing their support so close to the elections.

As for the AIADMK, the party reportedly drew significant support from Vengaivayal’s Dalit residents before the incident, yet the party offered little support, with none of its senior leaders visiting the village. However, it has been suggested that the rumours about Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder and popular actor, Vijay, paying a visit to Vengaivayal certainly played a role in the hurried filing of the chargesheet.

Dalits in peril

The latest development puts Dalits in a tight spot and potentially affects the credibility of the community with the larger public when they articulate their demand for justice in the face of discrimination and violence. Samuel Raj, State secretary, Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front, said that while he was confident that the claims made in the police chargesheet would never stand the test of scrutiny in the court, he nevertheless said that the police’s claims had dealt a body blow to Dalits and their fight for dignity and rights.

“How can the Dalits now speak about the atrocities faced by them when the State makes a claim in Vengaivayal that SCs mixed faeces in their own drinking water tank? It creates a psychological problem for Dalits and they would be suspected of lying when they speak about discrimination. It is laughable to claim that they threw human faeces into their own well from where they draw water for their families to take revenge on a panchayat president,” he added.

Mr. Samuel added that the DMK could find it difficult to ensure that the Dalits continued to support the party, but said that the VCK, a party that was founded to fight caste discrimination, could face a much bigger pressure to ensure that the Dalits get justice.

However, Mr. Samuel added, “But, electoral alliances cannot be decided based on one issue, especially considering the present status of national politics in our country and the need to unite against the BJP. We also need to look at how to stop the BJP/RSS from gaining any foothold in the State. This doesn’t mean the CPI(M) would stop fighting for Dalit rights. We would speak about it whenever the need arises.” The CPI(M) largely remained reactive, with its affiliated youth wing, DYFI, briefly mobilising members Statewide with a call to demolish the overhead tank, which they argued was a symbol of caste oppression. The protest was called off following peace talks with local officials.

Members of the Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi attempted to break the overhead tank, leading to the arrest of some of its cadres, while the Ambedkar Makkal Iyakkam submitted a petition to the National SC Commission, highlighting the gravity of the issue at a broader level.

Meanwhile, the VCK remained one of the most active political forces, organising Statewide protests and visits by its leader, Thol. Thirumavalavan, which helped the party establish a strong organic connection with the affected villagers. Following the CB-CID’s status report, the party staged a protest, leading to the arrest of 36 of its members. However, the VCK has since stated that it will pursue justice through legal avenues rather than ground-level agitation.

Apart from a statement by Mr. Shanmugam, no significant protests have been observed from the CPI(M).

However, it is the Dalit residents of Vengaivayal who continue to protest on a daily basis since the CB-CID’s report was made public, refusing to accept the findings and demanding a more transparent investigation. The Special Court for trial of case under the SC/ST POA Act in Pudukkottai, while taking up the petition filed by the complainant Kanagaraj, resident of Vengaivayal, on whose complaint the case was registered, to not accept the charge sheet, was adjourned to February 1.

The CB-CID public prosecutor argued that the case did not fall under the SC/ST Atrocities Act since both the victims and accused belong to the Scheduled Caste community and added that there was no obligation to inform the victims or provide the charge sheet under the Act’s provisions.

Police narrative

Reacting to the latest developments, Villupuram M.P. and general secretary, VCK, D. Ravikumar, said, that there has been a consistent attempt to paint the Dalits as the accused in the case right from the time the investigation began and said that this has been ‘Tamil Nadu police’s culture’.

“Look at the sequence of events – many of the residents of Vengaivayal fall sick and the doctor had said that it could be because of the water they consumed. Only then he (named as accused) climbs on top of the water tank and looks into the water…and they find human faeces. There is a logical reason to explain why they climbed on top of the water tank. But, he has now been named as an accused,” he said.

Mr. Ravikumar said that the police often sidestep a number of cases filed under Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities)(PoA) Act, 1989 by claiming that the complaints were made based on ‘Mistaken Facts’ in order to dispose of the case. Vengaivayal case is also one among them,” he said. Mr. Ravikumar said that the history of discrimination within the village was not taken into account while investigating the case, which could have helped the investigating officials to point their needle of suspicion at the right person.

“This incident is not isolated. There had been an issue with the overhead tank with Dalits complaining that they don’t receive water from the 30,000-litre capacity water tank built in Eraiyur 20 years ago. In 2016-17, an overhead water tank was built in the Dalit neighbourhood, but it had taken four years for them to build a borewell. It was clear during the visit of the then Collector Kavitha Ramu that Dalits were not allowed into the temple. This is an atrocity-prone village. And this context wasn’t taken into consideration while investigating the case. There are issues with respect to how the sample was collected and if it was collected properly,” he said.

Does he believe that this further strains the ‘ideological alliance’ that the VCK has struck with the DMK since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections? Can this alliance be considered strong despite Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s inability to ensure proper investigation into the Vengaivayal case despite being the head of the State level vigilance and monitoring committee?

“Though the CM is the head (of the committee), he cannot be expected to closely monitor each step of the case. He is only likely to go by the regular reports by the police officials. When police officials make their conclusions firmly, he could have said that…let it take its own course in the courts. When 13 people were killed in police firing in Thoothukudi anti-Sterlite protests and it became a huge election issue, the DMK said all the right things. The committee report recommended action against the police officers. But what action has the DMK taken based on the report? It is not just the case with Scheduled Castes. There is a tendency (in the government) to rely on police narrative,” he said, before adding, “Relying on the police officials’ narrative is not wrong. But when the government is fighting an ideological battle with the Union government, the CM must exercise more caution.”