The Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department’s status report on the Vengaivayal case, filed in the Madras High Court, has drawn mixed response from residents of Vengaivayal and Eraiyur villages in Pudukkottai district.

The report has identified Murali Raja, 32; Sudarshan, 20; and Muthukrishnan, 22 — all from Vengaivayal and belonging to the Scheduled Caste — as the accused in the case wherein human faeces were mixed in an overhead water tank that supplied water to Scheduled Caste families in the village. The report said the motive behind the act was enmity towards Muthaiya, a former president of the Muthukadu panchayat and the spouse of the current president, Padma.

In Vengaivayal, inhabited by Scheduled Caste residents, the report’s revelations have sparked grief and disbelief. “For two years, we have lived in distress, awaiting justice. This report is deeply unfair and shocking. It is cruel and absurd to accuse members of our own community of contaminating the water meant for us and our children. We are the victims here,” said K.R. Murugan, an autorickshaw driver of the village.

Mr. Murugan further said villagers were discussing with community leaders and organisations that have supported them so far to decide on their next course of action.

However, the residents were relieved at the findings at Eraiyur, a neighbouring village predominantly inhabited by caste Hindus. “We believed in the State government and its investigation. We welcome the status report and feel that the right individuals have been identified as accused. Our village can now heave a sigh of relief,” said M. Adaikkappan, a resident.

Even as the report has been filed, issues of caste discrimination remain unresolved. Two cases from Eraiyur — the alleged prevalence of a two-tumbler system and denial of entry into a temple to Dalits — are pending trial. In one case, a shop-owner, Mookaiya, belonging to a caste Hindu community, was booked for practising the two-tumbler system. In another case, a woman, Singammal, was booked for allegedly abusing Scheduled Caste residents “while in a trance” when the Collector facilitated their entry to the temple. Both of them had been arrested and released on bail. Members of the VCK district unit would stage a protest against the CB-CID’s status report in Pudukkottai on Saturday.