Namakkal, (Tamil Nadu): In a shocking incident, some unidentified miscreants placed human excreta on the lock of the kitchen door of a government primary school at Ambedkar Nagar in Erumapatty panchayat in this district.
This incident, which took place on Monday, triggered strong opposition from political parties on Wednesday and demanded stern action against the culprits.
According to reports, the miscreants had smeared the excreta in a nearby wall as well.
The incident came to light when the cook and other teachers of the school came to open the kitchen on Tuesday, triggering condemnation from opposition parties.
They immediately informed the school headmistress, Dhanalakshmi.
The door lock was thoroughly cleaned with water before the cook opened the kitchen.
Later, as directed by the block educational officer (BEO) Arun, the headmistress lodged a complaint with the Erumapatty police, who registered a case and are investigating.
Namakkal district SP S Rajesh Kannan said, "We could have conducted an inquiry if the school staff had contacted us before cleaning."
He also said based on the complaint, action was being initiated and special teams were formed to identify the culprits.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for I and B and Parliamentary Affairs L Murugan condemned the incident and termed it as an inhumane act and demanded strong action against the miscreants.
Opposition leader, including AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and ousted leader O Panneerselvam also condemned the incident.
Expressing shock over the incident, Mr Palaniswmai, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly, blamed the ruling DMK's 'inefficiency' that had prompted the miscreants to commit such an heinous crime without fear.
He recalled a similar incident at Vengaivayal in Pudukottai district in December 2022, when human excreta was found in the overhead water tank that provided drinking water to the dalit habitats into which the state government had ordered a CB-CID probe which was entrusted with the task of cracking the case, identify the culprits and arrest them.
Had the government ensured justice by taking action in the Vengaivayal incident, such an incident in Namakkal could have been averted, he said in a post on X.
As the CB-CID failed to make any headway even after 15 months of the incident took place and no arrests were made, the villagers failed to turn up to vote in the recent Lok Sabha polls initially, before they agreed to exercise their democratic right after senior officials held talks with them and cast their ballots.
The Madras High Court, on a PIL, also pulled up the CB-CID asking why it was taking so long to complete the probe and directed to expedite it.
