TIRUNELVELI: Two days after a teenaged suspect in a rape died at an Observation Home, his family and the members of several associations submitted a petition to Collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish in Tirunelveli, seeking an investigation.
Mother of the deceased said, "The Sambavarvadakarai police arrested and confined my son to the Observation Home in Tirunelveli on October 8. On Sunday, the home officials informed that our son had consumed poison and died." She claimed that the purported sexual victim used to talk to her son. On October 7, the brother of the purported victim and two men had allegedly attacked her son before taking him to Tenkasi police station, she alleged. Later, the Sambavarvadakarai police registered a case and arrested her son on October 8. Personnel at both the police stations had tortured her son, she claimed.
The woman claimed that when she met her son at the Home, he said he had not sexually assaulted the girl; he revealed the names of his assailants. On October 8, he was taken to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TMCH) around midnight after he allegedly consumed poison; this was mentioned in his Outpatient slip at TMCH.
The family alleged that he was not administered proper care, necessitating another admission to the hospital on October 15. However, no one kept them in the loop regarding these developments. The parents also wanted the sexual assault case of the 48-year-old be properly probed.