VILLUPURAM: Tension prevailed at Vasanthakrishnapuram near Thirukovilur after three youth from the Dalit colony were found with grievous injuries on the road on Tuesday morning. While one of them died on the way to hospital and the other close to the afternoon, the third is critical.
The families alleged that this was a case of honour killing. The relatives refused to accept the bodies, demanding that the case be probed as an honour killing, as one boy was in love with a girl from a different caste.
Police said Kirubanithi (21), Veeramani (16), and Gopinath (17) left Vasanthakrishnapuram and went to Athithanallur on new year eve to meet a friend.
The three left on a two-wheeler to the Murugan temple located on the Vasanthakrishnapuram-Athithanallur village road. The temple was located at an equal distance from both villages and the road does not branch into any other roads. On Monday morning, passersby spotted the three battling for lives close to a boulder, around 300 metres from the village. The two wheeler was damaged.
They were rushed to the Thirukovilur GH, from where they were referred to GH in Mundiyambakkam.
Kirubanithi was declared brought dead on Monday evening. Veeramani was brain dead by the time he was taken to the JIPMER in Puducherry on Tuesday. Gopinath was under intensive treatment at the JIPMER.
Mystery shrouds deaths
Kirubanithi’s relatives, most vocally his father, have claimed that this was a case of honour killing. The relatives of both the boys are refusing to accept bodies until the accused are booked. The Vasanthakrishnapuram Dalit colony has come forward in support, to launch an indefinite strike.
According to Subramani (49), the father of Kirubanithi, the youth was in love with a caste Hindu girl of Athithanallur. The girl also attended a college in Tiruvannamalai and the two used to commute on the same bus. She reportedly had four brothers who worked in a fish market in Chennai. When the brothers came to know of the relationship, they hired men to kill his son, claimed Subramani.
According to the father, Kirubanithi, Veeramani and Gopinath had gone to the Murugan temple to meet a youth named Raja. Raja was a construction worker in Chennai and had called in the night saying he was back in the village and was waiting to meet them at the Murugan temple. When the kids didn’t return by morning, Subramani had called Raja, who then claimed he had never made that call. He was still in Chennai, said Raja before hanging up on Subramani.
SP Jeyakumar, who had visited the Arkandanallur station on Monday night, formed three special teams under Thirukovilur DSP Ashok Kumar. The police was looking at all angles from accident to murder, he stated. Police presence has been strengthened in Vasanthakrishnapuram as a precaution as the mood was caustic in general. The Arkandanallur Police registered a case of suspicious death under CrPC 174 (1).
Take severe action: CPI
Chennai: Expressing shock over the murder of two Dalit youth at Vasantha krishnapuram in Villupuram district on New Year eve, CPI state secretary R Mutharasan on Tuesday urged the authorities concerned to take severe action against those responsible for the killings. In a statement here, he said S Kirubanidhi and A Veeramani succumbed to injuries they suffered in the attack while another Dalit youth E Gopinath was battling for life. The culprits must be nabbed immediately by holding a proper investigation, he said. Mutharasan also demanded that necessary steps be taken to cool tempers and bring situation back to normal in the village.