Chennai: Human waste was found in an overhead drinking water tank in a Tamil Nadu village, where most of the over 1,000 residents belong to the Scheduled Caste community.
Residents raised an alarm after noticing a foul smell in the drinking water in Madurai district's Amachiapuram village. On inspecting the tank, they found human waste floating inside it. A video of the tank surfaced on social media, triggering widespread outrage and concerns.
Police identified a 14-year-old boy suspected of having placed the waste into the tank.
A senior police officer told NDTV, "We are interrogating the juvenile. The boy claims to have climbed atop the overhead tank to carry out the act." Police said the suspect is a minor from the same community as the villagers, and that no communal or caste-related motive is suspected at this stage.
The district administration and health department officials have visited the spot following complaints from villagers, who have urged immediate cleaning of the tank and medical screening for all residents to prevent any outbreak of infection. Villagers say they have been without safe drinking water for two days, with the contaminated supply unfit for consumption.
Around 200 families in Amachiapuram depend on this single elevated tank for their drinking water needs.
In 2022, a similar incident was reported in the Pudukkottai district. After no breakthrough in the case for three years, Tamil Nadu police filed a chargesheet naming three accused earlier this year.
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