Two human rights defenders Mr Thulasi Thambirajan and Mr Dharuman Ramasamy were assaulted and are now facing prison charges for their exposure of corruption within the local Panchayat in their implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Thulasi Thambirajan is a human rights teacher in the Adi Dravida Welfare Middle School in Varakoor and Dharuman Ramasamy is an organiser in the Citizens for Human Rights Movement (CHRM).

On 16 July 2009, at approximately 6.00 p.m., Thulasi Thambirajan and Dharuman Ramasamy had parked Thulasi Thambirajan’s motorbike in Vanniyar village when they were approached by a group of 10 armed men. Thulasi Thambirajan ran into the house outside which they had parked and managed to escape. Dharuman Ramasamy also tried to escape but was caught by the group who assaulted him with iron pipes and bamboo canes saying that he was responsible for the dismissal of the Panchayat President from his post. He was injured on the shoulder, wrist, right leg and head. Dharuman Ramasamy’s son, Rajesh, and other relatives, Mr Subramani and Mr Ponnusamy reached the scene and in their attempts to rescue Dharuman Ramasamy, they were also assaulted. Thulasi Thambirajan’s motorbike was very badly damaged by the group.

At approximately 9:00 p.m on the same day, Dharuman Ramasamy, Rajesh, Subramani and Ponnusamy went to file a formal complaint with the office of the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), however the DSP was not present. The Special Sub Inspector of Buvanagiri Police Station asked Dharuman Ramasamy to go alone to the hospital to receive treatment and instructed the others to come to Buvanagiri Police Station to lodge a complaint. At the police station, instead of receiving the complaint from Rajesh, Ponnusamy and Subramani, the Special Sub Inspector and a Sub Inspector of Police remanded the men in custody and filed a case against them under Crime Number 359/2009. The charges against them are under Sections 147 (“punishment for rioting”), 148 (“rioting, armed with deadly weapon”), 341 (“punishment for wrongful restraint”), 294 (“obscene acts and songs”), 324 (“voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means”) and 506-2 (“punishment for criminal intimidation”) read with Section 379 (“punishment for theft”) of the Indian Penal Code in Buvanagiri police station. Rajesh, Ponnusamy and Subramani are currently in detention in Parangipettai Prison in Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu, while Ramasamy is still in hospital receiving treatment.

Dharuman Ramasamy and Thulasi Thambirajan were also added as accused in the case. On hearing of all these developments, Thulasi Thambirajan refrained from returning home. At 1.00 a.m. Sub Inspector Ms Uma Maheswari, together with two police constables from Buvanagiri police station went to his house and threatened his wife and asked for his whereabouts. On 17 July 2009, Messrs. Subramani, Rajesh and Ponnusamy were remanded to 15 days’ judicial custody.

In 2008, Thulasi Thambirajan and Dharuman Ramasamy applied for the details of the implementation of the NREGS in the region, using the Right to Information Act, and discovered that the Panchayat President of Kilavadinatham, amongst others, had embezzled NREGS funds. Thulasi Thambirajan and Dharuman Ramasamy sent a complaint of this corruption of the Panchayat President to all Government Officials at the Taluk, District and State levels. When the authorities failed to take any investigatory measures concerning these allegations of corruption, Dharuman Ramasamy and other members of CHRM, staged a series of protest demonstrations in front of the office of the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) which had also targeted the Special Branch Crime Investigation Department for involvement in the corruption scheme. In 2009, a new District Collector conducted an investigation into the corruption in the implementation of NREGS in the district. This investigation revealed the corruption by Mr. Kumar and subsequently on 3 August 2009 he was dismissed from the post of Panchayat President of Kilavadinatham village. It is thought that the assault on Dharuman Ramasamy and Thulasi Thambirajan is connected to the dismissal of the Panchayat President and to the Special Branch Crime Investigation Department.