Instances of assault and abuse on migrants are common across the state, with the recent viral video standing proof to the status of migrants in India.
In a recent viral video on social media, a man can be seen abusing and assaulting three migrant workers on a moving train in Tamil Nadu. Shortly after the video went viral, the Tamil Nadu railway police registered a case under sections 153 A, 323, and 294 (B) of the IPC in relation to the episode and are on the lookout for the alleged assaulter.
"Government Railway Police Tamil Nadu has registered an FIR against the accused persons under relevant provisions of law. Perpetrators of the crime will be brought to book," the railway police said in a statement as per an NDTV report.
A man can be seen verbally and physically abusing migrant workers in a jam-packed unreserved compartment of a moving train in the purported video posted by right-wing supporter Karthik Gopinath. The two-minute-long video shows the man asking one of the travelers if he was "Tamil or Hindi", following which he lashes out at him and a couple of other co-passengers. He continues assaulting his fellow passengers, accusing the migrant workers of stealing away local people's jobs in Tamil Nadu them despite repeated calls to stop.
The accused man even grabs, pulls the other men by their hair, and blows a couple of punches at them.
As per a Press Information Bureau (PIB) report published in April 2022, based on the 2011 census, there are over 34.87 lakh migrant laborers in Tamil Nadu and of this 7.13 lakh are women. Instances of assault and abuse on migrants are common across the state.
Earlier this week, students of the RVS Engineering College hostel mess at Kannampalayam near Sulu, Coimbatore clashed with migrant workers over the serving of food in the Hostel Mess. In a viral video from the Monday episode, the guest workers and students were seen engaged in physical brawls, attacking each other with wooden logs.
As per media reports, hundreds of students took food at the hostel mess,s and queried the workers over the quality and quantity of non-vegetarian food served to them on Monday night. This was followed by an altercation between the two sides.
The RVS Engineering college administration informed the Sulur police who rushed to the spot and began a preliminary investigation.