TIRUNELVELI/THOOTHUKUDI: The 25-year-old Dalit man who was hacked to death allegedly by three dominant caste men on Sunday morning was murdered over his relationship with a woman from dominant community, a senior police official in Tirunelveli said. Police said they have arrested two suspects while the third is on the run.
P Muthu Perumal from Puliyankulam village was working as a sales executive at a car showroom in Thoothukudi. According to the complaint lodged by his brother, P Kannan, Perumal was waylaid near Johnson Nagar, Reddiarpatti by three men from Therku Karaseri village, S Esakkipandi, D Muthukrishnan and M Ooikattan, and was brutally hacked to death.
Sources said the suspects had phoned Perumal and asked him to come to Reddiarpatti, which is in Tirunelveli district. Perumal and the woman, believed to be separated from her husband, met each other when they worked together in a petrol bunk. The woman’s brother had threatened Perumal for speaking to his sister, sources said.
“The suspects murdered Perumal due to his relationship with a woman from their community. Moreover, there are pre-existing conflicts between the people of Puliyankulam and Therku Karaseri, which are neighbours,” the Tirunelveli police official said.
Based on Kannan’s complaint, a case has been registered under Sections 341, 294 (b), 302, 506 (2) of IPC as well as Sections 3 (1) (6), 3 (1) (s) and 3 (2) (v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Speaking to TNIE, Congress functionary Siddharth, a resident of Puliyankulam, claimed Perumal’s family had not been told the motive behind his murder. The villagers will be conducting a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the issue. Police personnel have been deployed in both villagers to avert any violence.
Meanwhile Thoothukudi Superintendent of Police Balaji Saravanan said the bereaved family had agreed to accept Perumal’s body once his father returned from Mauritius. “The deceased and the accused had previous enmity over the former’s relationship with women from the accused’s community, one being the sister of one of the detenue,” he said, claiming the murder was not motivated by caste.