TIRUNELVELI: Tense moments prevailed across the district on Tuesday after a 29-year-old man belonging to an intermediate caste was hacked to death the previous night allegedly by youth from another intermediate caste in Pettai over a dispute that unfolded a few months ago during Krishna Jayanthi celebrations. Pettai police said the deceased, M Nambirajan of Nadukallur village, was murdered by five persons.
“People from two intermediate castes in Nadukallur got into minor scuffles after one group celebrated Krishna Jayanthi earlier. As an extension of this dispute, the suspects followed Nambirajan while he was returning home after work on Monday and hacked him. The next morning, the victim’s relatives led by AIADMK former union chairman Kallur Velayutham staged a road blockade on Tirunelveli-Cheranmahadevi road condemning the murder. Several shops and a government school in Pettai remained closed,” said the police.
Reportedly, this is the third caste murder in the region in two years, and all three slain men belonged to the same caste, while all the suspects belong to another intermediate caste. The first victim, Durai alias Chidambaram of Seevalaperi village, was murdered over a temple dispute in April 2021, and his relative Mayandi was hacked to death just two weeks ago. A massive posse of police personnel has been deployed at villages where members of both castes reside. Security measures have also been tightened near the district collectorate and the Alagumuthu Kone statue.
Nambirajan had married only eight months ago and his wife is reportedly five months pregnant. His relatives and villagers have refused to receive the body hospital. They demanded compensation, a government job for Nambirajan’s wife, the arrest of his murderers, and the setting up of a police outpost in Nadukallur.
Inspector General of Police (South Zone) Asra Garg has camped in Tirunelveli and the district administration is attempting to convince the family to receive the body. Just last Wednesday, Mayandi’s relatives received his body from the hospital following five days of protest and Assembly Speaker M Appavu’s assurance that the government will take steps to prevent more murders of people from the intermediate caste.
