MADURAI: The ‘beep’ song, which created a major controversy in the State, has now led to communal tensions in a village here, after a group of caste Hindus stabbed a Dalit youth who questioned them for playing the song during a temple function.

The song that had set off a controversy due to the words and phrases about women, was played at a temple function at Meenakshipuram near Melur, much to the embarrassment of the women folk who had gathered there. M Kaviarasan, a Dalit youth and son of the priest of the temple, objected to this, leading to the attack.

However, the trouble started much earlier, police officials told Express. According to Melur DSP T Mangaleshwaran, the caste Hindu youth first played songs in praise of their community leader during the function at around 3 pm on Friday. Despite objections from Dalits, they continued to play the songs. When the Dalits argued that the Amman temple was common, the caste Hindu youth played ‘beep’ song on their mobile phones close to the temple’s audio system, he said.

Around 9 pm, P Selvam, G Thangapandi and his brother G Prasath and P Dinesh, all from intermediary caste hailing from Meenakshipuram village, went to Adi Dravidar colony in search of Kaviarasan. They asked him to apologise, which later led to stabbing.