PUDUKKOTTAI: Two days after being attacked by a mob in a suspected theft case, a 10-year-old girl died in Pudukkottai Medical College Hospital late on Wednesday. According to sources, the child and five of her family members were assaulted by a 30-member mob on Monday while allegedly trying to flee with bronze articles stolen from three temples in Killanur village in the district. An attempt-to-murder case filed against 30 ‘unknown individuals’ will be changed to murder case, police sources said on Thursday.
On November 14, video clips of villagers on motorbikes chasing an autorickshaw went viral on social media. Police sources said the family of six was trying to flee in the auto but the villagers caught hold of it and thrashed it, leaving the child severely injured. Two separate cases were booked in Udaiyalipatti police station and Ganesh Nagar police station in Pudukkottai town.
According to Udaiyalipatti police, a complaint was filed on November 14 by temple priests over bronze articles going missing from two village temples and one private temple. Ganesh Nagar police sources said a complaint was filed on the same day by Lilly Pushpa of Cuddalore, mother of seven children, alleging that she and her husband used to regularly visit temples and when they visited Killanur on Monday with their four kids, three people abused them and questioned them whether they were involved in stealing something.
‘Father of 10-year-old girl has several cases pending against him’
“Afraid of the villagers, we tried to escape in our auto but some followed us, caught us near Pudukkottai town, and assaulted us with stones and sticks,” Pushpa said in her complaint. All the injured were admitted to the hospital.
Police sources said they suspect the family could have stolen some articles as the video purportedly showed some bronze items being thrown out of the auto by the woman’s husband, Sathyanarayana Swamy, when the villagers were chasing them.
Pudukkottai SP Vandita Pandey on Thursday said the accused, Swamy, has several pending cases against him in Cuddalore and Mayiladuthurai, including a murder case in Cuddalore. “However, the mob behaviour cannot be justified or taken lightly as a young girl has lost her life,” she added.