Young engineer hacked to death in suspected caste killing: Bahujan Dravidia Party demands justice

By A Representative

The Bahujan Dravidia Party (BDP), a relatively small but vocal political outfit committed to the upliftment of Scheduled Castes and backward communities in Tamil Nadu, has strongly condemned the murder of 24-year-old Kavin Selvaganesh in Thoothukudi, calling it a caste pride killing. Founded on the ideological legacies of Periyar and Kanshi Ram, the BDP operates primarily in southern Tamil Nadu and among Bahujan youth, with limited electoral presence but growing activist visibility.

On July 28, 2025, Kavin Selvaganesh—a gold-medallist engineering graduate working with TES 37 in Chennai—was brutally attacked and killed in broad daylight in KTC Nagar. According to the complaint filed by his mother Tamil Selvi, a government school teacher, the assailants, including one Surjeet and his parents, were known to the family and carried out what she described as a premeditated attack motivated by caste animosity. The family belongs to a Scheduled Caste community, and the murder is alleged to have been an act of retribution against Kavin’s academic and professional success.

BDP National President and Supreme Court advocate Sardar Jeevan Singh issued a public statement demanding swift action, including the immediate arrest of all named accused and the formation of a Special Investigation Team to probe the caste angle. He urged the Tamil Nadu government to classify the incident as a caste-based crime under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and to extend police protection and legal support to the family.

In his statement, Singh called the murder “a casteist lynching meant to remind the oppressed of their place,” linking it to a wider pattern of attacks on Dalit assertion, from the deaths of Ilavarasan and Sankar to more recent incidents across India. “Kavin was not just a victim; he was a symbol of our movement, and for that, he was punished,” Singh said.

The BDP has called upon the Chief Minister, the Tamil Nadu SC/ST Commission, and the National Human Rights Commission to intervene immediately and ensure accountability and justice. The party vowed to continue its fight through legal and political channels, stating, “We will not rest until justice prevails.”

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