NAMAKKAL: Stories from romantic literature would be replete with anecdotes of lovers sneaking into their beloved’s house, just to get a glimpse of their face.
However, 27-year-old Dharmaraj from Perumparai in Pallipalayam would in his wildest dreams not have imagined that his visit to his lover’s house in the wee hours of Sunday would cost him his life.
Police said that a 16-year-old school dropout was working as a labourer in a spinning mill. She fell in love with Dharmaraj - an auto driver in the locality. When the minor’s parents came to know about her relationship, they strictly warned her. However, the girl continued meeting him at odd hours in her residence without her parent’s knowledge.
During one such secret visit, when Dharmaraj, along with his friend Ezhumalai, was waiting in front of the girl’s house, father Muthukumar (36) stopped them.
While Ezhumalai managed to escape, Dharmaraj was caught in the hands of Muthukumar and his relatives. When he could not answer their questions, he was attacked with logs.
When contacted, superintendent of police Ara Arularasu said, “After attacking Dharmaraj, kin of the girl admitted him to government Pallipalayam hospital. However, he died without responding to treatment. A day after the incident, the five accused - Ramesh (30), Sivasakthivel (34), Renganathan (26), Eswaramoorthy (24) from Ekkatur and the girl’s father - were arrested by the police.”A case was registered against the five accused under section 302 (punishment for murder) of IPC.