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VILLUPURAM: A gang on Thursday beat an eight-year-old boy from the dalit community to death and sexually assaulted his mother and sister, who are now in a critical condition, near Arakandanallur in Villupuram district.

It is suspected that the assault maybe the fallout of a rivalry with people belonging to non-dalit communities from the same area. This is the third incident of attack on people from the dalit community under Arakandanallur police station limits since December 31, 2017.

Police said the woman was living with a daughter, 14, and son after her husband died five years ago.

Her other three sons are settled in Bengaluru, while her elder daughter works in a garment unit at Tirupur.

Police said unidentified men barged into their house while the three were asleep in the wee hours of Thursday. The men assaulted the boy who died on the spot. They later allegedly sexually assaulted the woman and her minor daughter.

The issue came to light when the woman's neighbours noticed that the house remained bolted for a long time on Thursday morning.

They entered the house only to find the boy dead. They found the woman and her daughter lying with severe injuries and their clothes torn apart. They immediately alerted the Arakandanallur police station.

Police admitted the injured to Thirukovilyur Government General Hospital. Doctors, after extending first-aid, referred them to Mundiyampakkam Government Medical College and Hospital at Villupuram. The doctors there again referred them to Jipmer for further treatment.

Police also recovered the body of the boy and sent it for postmortem.

"We are probing the incideent. Medical examination reports of the two will give a clearer picture," said an investigating officer.

Initial inquiries revealed that the victims and a family belonging to a non-dalit community in the neighbourhood were involved in a property dispute which is pending before a local court at Thirukoilur.

Recently there has been a series of caste-related incidents in the locality. A few days back a complaint was lodged when some girl students belonging to the dalit community were harassed by men from non-dalit communities at T Devanur Government School . On December 31, two men belonging to the dalit community were murdered. One of them allegedly had a relationship with a girl from the most-backward class community.

