VILLUPURAM: Villagers and relatives blocked a road on Sunday after a 25-year-old woman killed herself as a man sexually harassed her and his relatives were involved in character assassination of the woman, said police. The protestors alleged that police inaction led to her suicide and demanded the arrest of her harasser.
According to sources, the woman from a village in Cuddalore had gone to a nearby village, on February 25, where a man named B Kandasamy allegedly harassed her at a casuarina farm. Despite her lodging a complaint against the man, Thiruvennainallur police had not taken the matter seriously, the sources alleged.
Police said that the girl killed herself on February 27 after a group of villagers supporting Kandasamy met the family members of the girl and attempted to character-assassinate the woman. Shortly after that, the woman was found dead at her under-construction house.
According to her father, “The police had one full day (February 26) to take action, but they failed to do so. And that gave the accused man’s family the guts to come to our house and abuse our daughter. It was the police inaction that led to the death of my daughter. We demand immediate arrest of the accused and justice for my daughter.”
A group of villagers staged a road block along Villupuram-Panruti road on Sunday condemning police negligence and demanding immediate arrest of Kandasamy. Police said that one accused, Ravichandran, was arrested on Sunday. Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on Tamil Nadu’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.