THOOTHUKUDI: In the non-descript village of Vallakulam in Thoothukudi district, a 17-year-old caste Hindu girl was allegedly dragged out of her house by her two relatives, taken to a farmland and force-fed pesticide.
Her body was then dumped into a farm well. And there it remained for around two years, until recently, when police detained her two relatives in connection with another murder, and came to know about her death. The crime she committed: loving a Dalit youth.
The police, along with fire and rescue personnel, recovered the skeletal remains of the girl from the farmwell in Vallakulam near Srivaikuntam on Friday. It was sent to Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital for post-mortem.
The killing came to light when the police were questioning the girl’s relatives - Arumugam and Balasubramanian - who are under detention now, in connection with the murder of a woman near Manalur recently. During interrogation, the duo admitted to murdering Venila, daughter of Sudalaimuthu, and dumping her body into the farm well in August, 2015.
Following this, on Wednesday, the police, along with the personnel from fire and rescue department, began works to pump out water from the well. Around 11.30 am, they found the remains. The police have now launched a search for her father Sudalaimuthu and his brother Isakipandi, who are absconding.
Sources said that Sudalaimuthu lived with his family at Kinathukadavu in Coimbatore two years ago. Venila belonging to a caste Hindu community, fell in love with a Dalit youth, Arthur Kumar (22), from Thalayuthu village near Tirunelveli. The two met while working at a textile mill at Pollachi.
Following strong opposition from her parents, the two eloped. Following a complaint from her parents, the police traced the two and sent Venila, a minor, to her parent’s house. Since Venila was adamant, the killers forcibly took her to a farmland, forced her to consume pesticide and dumped her in the farmwell.