Six held for assaulting, urinating on SC youths in TN; political parties denounce atrocities
Tirunelveli (TN), Nov 2: Six persons were arrested allegedly for assaulting, stripping and urinating on two Scheduled Caste youths from the district, police said on Thursday.
Several political parties denounced the atrocities on the SC youths and called for concrete measures to prevent such crimes in the future.
The six persons have been identified as M Ponmani, S Nallamuthu, R Ayiram, B Ramar, M Siva and Lakshmanan, police said.
All in the age group of 21 to 25 years, they were said to be under the influence of alcohol when they accosted the youths and asked them to reveal their caste identity, police said.
When the two Dalit youths revealed their caste identity, the gang of six assaulted and stripped them and them urinated on them.
The two youths were returning after a bath from Thamirabarani river when they were assaulted, Thachanallur police said.
The police have registered cases against the six accused under various sections of the IPC and also under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
According to the victims, who are currently undergoing treatment at the Tirunelveli Medical College hospital here, the gang robbed them of two mobile phones, silver jewellery and extorted Rs 5,000 from them.
"They appeared to be high on ganja (cannabis). They called us and asked about our caste and native place, when we were getting ready to ride our bike after a bath in the river on Monday. No sooner had we answered than they began attacking us with sticks and knives," the victims said.
One of the injured had to contact his office to have Rs 5,000 digitally transferred to the gang. Once the money was credited, the perpetrators took the victim's bike to withdraw money from a nearby ATM.
"However, two of them fled upon seeing the police on patrol and we took advantage of the situation and escaped," the victims told reporters.
Condemning the "heinous act", AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said the incident proved that caste-based atrocities have become rampant after the DMK came to power.
"This is a shameful act. Instead of making it a case of robbery, the police should take stringent action on those involved. The government should provide appropriate compensation to the affected SC youth," Palaniswami said in a post on social media platform X.
Strongly condemning the attack on the SC youth, CPI state secretary R Mutharasan said such human rights violations are unacceptable in a civilised society.
"It's regrettable that such incidents are on the rise in Tirunelveli district. Concrete steps should be taken with political determination and social concern to prevent such incidents from happening in the future," he said in a release, and sought a probe and appropriate punishment for the culprits.
Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S Ramadoss called for strict action on the culprits.
TNCC legislature party leader K Selvaperunthagai, too, condemned the incident.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
===================
The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
