The attacks lasted for 2 hours and 14 people were seriously injured in the violence including a man's arm reportedly hacked off.
Tensions reportedly started after Dalits in the village boycotted the 2004 Lok Sabha election as a protest because some of their grievances remained unattended.
The United states Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor reported that the attackers blamed the loss of their candidate on the Dalits.
One of their key demands of the Dalit community is their entry into the common village temple which had been opposed by caste-Hindus for years.
It is reported that when the Bharatiya Janata Party's state president visited the village, the Dalits remained unconcerned which angered the BJP cadres.
[1][3] A Dalit youth was attacked on 14 May by some men from the Gounder caste when he was pasting posters to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
On 15 May, a group of Dalit youth who traveled with a group of Gounder men in an auto rickshaw were allegedly verbally abused them in derogatory words because the Dalit youth were enjoying themselves in front of the dominant caste men and slapped one of them after getting out of the rickshaw.
[3] It is reported that 100 homes were completely burned and were razed to the ground, some of the attackers molested the Dalit women and also looted jewelry and money from the houses.
In other cases, an 8-month-old infant was thrown against a wall, a 75-year-old man was assaulted, and a middle-aged woman was struck in her head while she attempted to defend her son.
[1] The United states Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor published that the dominant caste members blamed the Dalits for the loss of their candidate and reportedly committed the violence.
[12][16] The local villagers alleged that C.P Radhakrishnan, the then general secretary of the BJP threatened to "deal with them later" for boycotting the elections.