Ilavarasan's dad moves HC for SIT probe into death

Not convinced by official reports that his son Ilavarasan committed suicide, T Elango of Natham Colony of Dharmapuri, has moved the Madras High Court, seeking a direction to the Secretaries of the State and Central governments to transfer the case to a special investigation team (SIT) that included a forensic expert.

Ilavarasan, a Dalit youth, whose marriage to Divya, a Vanniyar girl, led to attacks on properties of the SCs in Dharmapuri last November, was found dead on a railway track on July 4. He was found dead a day after Divya disowned him, allegedly under duress.

In his writ petition filed on Tuesday, Elango claimed that his son’s death was a case of murder. From the beginning, the local police and experts, who conducted the postmortems, were issuing “statements and reports to appease communal forces,” he said.

“They were attempting to bury the case by stating that Ilavarasan committed suicide. The investigation was partisan, intended to promote the wishes of communal forces,” the petitioner claimed.

Elango also claimed that he was arbitrarily denied the right to choose an expert of his preference to conduct his son’s postmortem.

This itself was sufficient ground to raise the suspicion that the investigation was not fair. It was one-sided and motivated, claimed the petition.

Hence, it was just and necessary to appoint a SIT of “bright officers of sterling character, men of integrity committed to social justice, along with senior-most forensic expert to probe the case,” he prayed.

He also prayed for stay on all further investigation and other proceedings by the Railway Police, Dharmapuri, now being handled by the DSP-Harur, the special investigating officer.